Alligator Energy Sets 2030-31 Samphire Uranium Target After Trial

Alligator Energy (ASX: AGE) has laid out a path to first production from its Samphire uranium project in South Australia by 2030 or 2031, following the completion of a field recovery trial and a 67% increase in the project's mineral resource estimate to 30 million pounds of uranium oxide.

The company said the next steps include a feasibility study due by mid-2027, offtake and project financing milestones by the end of that year or early 2028, and construction during 2029 or 2030. All of that is subject to a Mining Lease approval and a final investment decision.

Samphire sits 20km from Whyalla. The operation would use in situ recovery (ISR), a method that dissolves uranium underground and pumps it to the surface. Alligator is also exploring the Big Lake project in the Cooper Basin for a larger ISR-style system.

Trial Results Hit Key Benchmarks

The field recovery trial ended on 30 June 2026. The pattern that represents the orebody targeted for initial development hit the industry benchmark of 70% uranium recovery over 70 pore volumes, the company said. Recovered solution reached a grade of 115 parts per million uranium oxide, with flow rates of up to five litres per second – both above peer averages, according to Alligator.

Reagent consumption fell within the favourable category of the international ISR standard. The company noted that reagents can be sourced locally, and the higher flow rate could allow fewer wells and lower costs for the same annual production.

A second pattern tested lower-grade and lower-flow material outside the scoping study and feasibility study resource. It performed in line with forecasts, indicating that marginal orebody areas could become commercially viable if uranium pricing supports their inclusion, Alligator said.

Resource Base Grows 67%

Samphire's mineral resource estimate rose to 30Mlb from 18Mlb after the inclusion of the Plumbush deposit. Blackbush now hosts 14.2Mlb in the Indicated category at 786ppm and 3.8Mlb in the Inferred category at 443ppm. The entire Plumbush resource of 12Mlb remains Inferred.

A binding call option over the Mullaquana Crown Lease has secured access for drilling southern Blackbush extensions, infilling Plumbush and testing the underexplored corridor between the deposits. Alligator plans about 300 drill holes across these areas by the end of November 2027. Early drilling has already extended uranium mineralisation 600 metres south of Blackbush at grades similar to the existing deposit, the company said.

The December 2023 scoping study – based on the former 18Mlb resource and a long-term uranium price of US$75/lb – modelled A$131 million in capital expenditure, a post-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate of A$257m, a 42% post-tax internal rate of return and a 2.45-year payback period. That study assumed annual production of 1.2Mlb, cash costs of US$16.06/lb and all-in sustaining costs of US$33.31/lb. The feasibility study will incorporate the trial results and the expanded resource.

Beyond Samphire, drilling continues at Big Lake after maiden work intersected uranium mineralisation over widths of up to 35m. Alligator is assessing the potential for a larger ISR-style uranium system in the Cooper Basin.