Toro Energy has tweaked the planned pit design at its Lake Maitland uranium and vanadium project near Wiluna in Western Australia.
After recently updating its resource, the company is pushing full steam ahead with plans to complete a scoping study update aimed at justifying the deposit as a standalone mining operation.
Four months ago, and due to rapidly improving market conditions for both commodities, the company lowered the resource’s cut off grades to re-estimate the Lake Maitland deposit, without necessarily diluting its future profitability.
As a result, the total inventory of uranium increased by 12 per cent to 29.6 million pounds (mlbs) grading 403 parts per million (ppm) and its vanadium resource increased by an impressive 74pc to 31.4mlbs running at 285ppm.
Toro’s broader Wiluna project, including its Centipede-Millipede and Lake Way deposits, has also benefitted with its total uranium resources increasing by 17pc to 73.6mlbs and vanadium stocks rising by 31 per cent to 89.3mlbs.
With the new pit optimisation complete, Toro Energy is now moving on to the next critical phase of its scoping study update - mine scheduling.
Financial models are being updated to include all the latest data and will be reworked to allow for adjusted input cost assumptions based on the Consumer Price Index.
The updated study aims to de-risk the project by sharpening up the economics and shining a light on the best commercial production pathway to minimise its upfront capital costs.
Toro has engaged West Perth-based SRK Consulting to oversee the full scope of the study, which is its first major update in more than three years. It expects to hand down the study scope in the next two months.
The company is also keeping a close eye on the domestic political winds. Western Australian and federal elections are on the horizon – WA goes to the polls on March 8 - the major political parties have been hanging out their shingles and spruiking increasingly polarised energy policies.
Labor’s strong margin means it is expect to hang onto government in WA this time round and maintain its a long-standing objection to uranium development in the State. The federal Australian Labor Party has an equally long-standing concern over uranium extraction in Australia.
The federal election is lining up to be a closer-run race. Should the Liberal Party edge ahead in the final tally, Liberal leader Peter Dutton has promised to increase the government’s focus on growing domestic nuclear energy.
A change in federal leadership may well fire a starting gun for companies such as Toro, which have sat patiently in the wings for many years with big uranium projects waiting on development approval.
Toro’s next few months are likely to be full of news. Punters, always on the lookout for an opportunity to trade, will no doubt keep keen eyes on any ASX and political developments.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By James Pearson
