Aura Energy Limited : Häggån uranium extraction confirmed with scaled up column bioleaching

17 July 2012

HÄGGÅN URANIUM EXTRACTION CONFIRMED WITH SCALED UP COLUMN BIOLEACHING

HIGHLIGHTS

Second stage bioheap leach testwork at increased scale successfully completed

Uranium extraction of up to 85% achieved

Scale up of bioleaching test columns from 0.5m to 2m height achieved comparable extractions

Low acid consumption reported in May scoping study confirmed

Results strongly support selection of low-cost bioheap leaching as optimal process for project

Backs major input into NPV $1.85 billion (scoping study assumed 75% uranium extraction)

Aura Energy (AEE) is a uranium explorer with advanced projects in Sweden, West Africa and Australia. The company is focusing on two main projects: the Häggån Project located in Sweden's Alum Shale Province, one of the largest depositories of uranium in the world; and the highly prospective Reguibat Province in Mauritania. The company aims to create shareholder value by rapidly establishing resources and then completing feasibility studies on these two projects. Aura Energy is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and is listed on the ASX.

Level 4, 66 Kings Park Rd, West Perth 6005 T: +61 8 6141 3570 F: +61 8 6141 3599 E: i nfo@auraenergy.com.au W: www.auraenergy.com.au

Aura Energy (ASX: AEE, Aura) confirmed the positive results of last year's small-scale bioheap leach tests with two metre high column tests using samples from Aura Energy's Häggån Project. Uranium oxide extractions of 80 - 85 per cent were achieved, using similar conditions to the earlier tests.
In Aura's scoping study announced in May this year, a conservative 75 per cent extraction was applied in economic modelling resulting in an estimated net present value of 10 per cent of $1.85 billion. These new results strongly support earlier findings and indicate that higher extractions `may be achieved.
Aura's Managing Director, Dr Bob Beeson, said: "This metallurgical testwork is a significant advancement for the Häggån Project.
"The fact that the larger scale tests very closely replicate the earlier smaller scale tests strongly suggests this process route is technically feasible for Häggån.
"The economic feasibility of this process route has already been confirmed by the financial model from the scoping study completed earlier this year," stated Dr Beeson.
Bioheap testwork overview
Aura commenced a program of bioleaching testwork at SGS Minerals, Perth in December
2011. The purpose of this program was to confirm positive results from small-scale (50 centimetre high by 10 centimetre diameter) columns obtained at the Parker Cooperative Research Centre for Hydrometallurgy. The current program examined scale-up of the bioleaching column tests along with key variability parameters for bioleaching optimisation.
A program of 10 columns, each two metres high and 15 centimetres in diameter, each containing approximately 50 kilograms of material sourced from across the Häggån resource, was undertaken using variable leaching conditions in the presence of bacteria.
The tests successfully demonstrated that high metal recovery and low acid consumption could be maintained with increased column size, which provided a more accurate representation of bioheap leach conditions.
Maximum extractions of metals obtained were:

Uranium:	85%
Nickel:	58%
Molybdenum	18%

The results have indicated that the uranium extraction of 75 per cent applied in the scoping study may be conservative.
About the Häggån Project
In August 2011, a resource containing 631 million pounds uranium oxide at an average grade of 162 parts per million of uranium was reported, placing Häggån within the top three largest undeveloped uranium resources globally.
The uranium mineralisation at Häggån occurs along with molybdenum, nickel, vanadium and zinc in black shales.
In May 2012 Aura announced excellent results from an updated Scoping Study on the Häggån Project which confirmed the robust economic viability of the project, based on what Aura considered to be conservative inputs.
The key outputs of the Revised Scoping Study were as follows:

NPV10 - US$1.85Billion

IRR - 49%

Pre-production capital - US$537Million

Sustaining capital (annual) - US$18Million per year

Payback - 4.2 years

Operating cost:

o US$13/lb U308 when nickel & molybdenum treated as by-products
o US$26/lb U308 when nickel & molybdenum are included as U3O8 equivalents
Annual Production - 7.8Mlbs U308, 14.8Mlbs Ni, 4.3Mlbs MoO3
The Revised Scoping Study was based on a nominal 30 million tonnes per year open cut mining operation followed by bio-heap leaching and with an initial mine life of 25 years.

For further information, please contact:

Jay Stephenson Barbara Pesel

Company Secretary, Aura Energy Media & Investor, Pesel & Carr
+61 (0)8 6141 3570 +61 (0)3 9663 0886 info@auraenergy.com.au barbara.pesel@peselandcarr.com.au

HÄGGÅN RESOURCE STATEMENT

Category	Cutoff U3O8	Size	U3O8	MoO3	V2O5	Ni	Zn
	(ppm U3O8)	(Bt)	ppm	ppm	ppm	ppm	ppm
Inferred	100	0.81	162	325	2616	318	448

Size in billions of tonnes and grades of the initial resources for the Häggån Project at 100ppm cut-off grade. Aura recognises the requirement to demonstrate that the uranium and other metals can be extracted economically, and this release is a further report of the progress of this work.

Competent Person

The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources, or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Dr Robert Beeson. Dr Robert Beeson has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking. This qualifies Dr Beeson as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Dr Robert Beeson consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. Dr Beeson is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.

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