ENERGY FUELS INC

The Ranobe ore characteristics are typical of many mineral sands orebodies currently exploited throughout the world. The valuable heavy minerals ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and monazite are present as liberated grains within unconsolidated sand. These can be separated from the quartz and other gangue minerals due to differences in mineral specific gravity, magnetic susceptibility, and conductivity.

Historical metallurgical test work indicated that ilmenite, rutile, and zircon products could be produced from the Ranobe deposit using conventional mineral sands recovery techniques. After acquiring the Toliara Project, Base Resources conducted additional test work on three bulk samples representative of the Ranobe deposit. The samples were taken in low, medium and high grade areas on the upper sandy unit and the medium grade sample was processed for flowsheet development. The samples were passed through a typical WCP, MSP and a MCP flowsheet. The low and high-grade samples were used for validation and variability testing. The WCP test work produced a bulk HMC at 91% HM, which was used in the MSP test work.

The initial test work indicated that the MSP could produce three ilmenite products: sulfate, slag, and chloride ilmenite. A rutile and standard grade zircon product could also be produced. The MSP test work also produced a tailings stream with a high monazite content, which was processed through a MCP flowsheet to produce a 90% monazite product.

The Toliara Project processing plants are designed for a maximum production capacity of 621 ktpa of sulfate and slag ilmenite during Stage 1 operations, increasing to 893 ktpa in Stage 2.