Highlights

  • Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) completed its Samphire field recovery trial in June 2026, testing in-situ uranium recovery under site conditions.
  • The first well pattern achieved the company’s targeted recovery level, while solution grades and flow rates provided additional operating data.
  • Samphire’s resource base expanded during 2026 following the addition of the Plumbush deposit.
  • Key milestones ahead include resource conversion, the Mining Lease process and completion of a bankable feasibility study.

For many uranium developers, production remains a long-term objective. Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) moved its Samphire project a step further during the first half of 2026 by recovering uranium into solution and processing it through a pilot-scale system. The field recovery trial concluded on 30 June 2026, providing operating data that could help shape the project’s next development phase.

What Samphire is, and what the trial tested

Samphire is located on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, approximately 20 kilometres south of Whyalla.

Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) is pursuing in-situ recovery, or ISR, as the proposed extraction method. Rather than developing a conventional open pit, ISR involves injecting a leaching solution through wells into permeable uranium-bearing sandstone. The uranium is dissolved underground, pumped back to surface and recovered through ion-exchange processing.

The approach can reduce surface disturbance compared with conventional mining because it does not require blasting or a permanent tailings storage facility.

The South Australian Department of Energy and Mining approved the field recovery trial in August 2025, and extraction activities began in late March 2026.

The numbers that came back

The first well pattern achieved Alligator Energy’s stated target of approximately 70% uranium recovery over 70 pore-volume exchanges.

Solution grades averaged about 115 milligrams per litre of uranium oxide, which sat toward the upper end of the 70–120 milligrams per litre range assumed in the December 2023 scoping study.

Extraction wells also delivered flow rates above five litres per second. These operational results provided site-specific data on how the orebody responds to ISR conditions, an important consideration because permeability and solution movement can materially influence project performance.

A second well pattern was deliberately positioned in lower-grade and less permeable material near the deposit margin. Its performance was reported to be in line with company expectations.

Separately, Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) expanded the Samphire resource during June 2026. The project resource increased by 67% to approximately 30 million pounds of uranium oxide following the addition of a maiden Inferred resource at the Plumbush deposit, located about five kilometres south of Blackbush.

Why it matters commercially

ISR projects can offer lower Capital intensity than conventional uranium mining methods, but their Economics depend heavily on uranium recovery, flow rates, reagent requirements and well-field performance.

The December 2023 scoping study outlined an estimated capital requirement of approximately A$131 million and a post-tax net present value of around A$257 million at an 8% discount rate, based on a uranium price assumption of US$75 per pound.

As a preliminary economic study, those figures remain subject to further refinement.

The importance of the field recovery trial is that it generates operating data under actual site conditions rather than relying solely on laboratory-scale testwork. That information can help improve future technical and economic modelling.

Alligator Energy has also raised additional capital to fund the next stages of work. In August 2026, the company completed a A$15 million Placement involving the issue of approximately 333.3 million shares.

The funding is intended to support activities across Samphire and the company’s broader exploration portfolio.

The gap between a trial and a mine

Completing a field recovery trial does not mean Samphire is ready for production.

The mining lease application remains in progress, and regulatory approval will be required before the project can move toward a final Investment decision and construction.

Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) is targeting completion of a bankable feasibility study around mid-2027. The company has also outlined potential offtake and financing work for late 2027 or early 2028, followed by construction from 2029 and possible first production around 2030 or 2031.

These dates represent company targets rather than firm commitments and could change depending on permitting, technical outcomes, funding conditions and uranium market dynamics.

Resource confidence is another important consideration. A meaningful portion of the expanded Samphire resource remains in the Inferred category.

The company plans an extensive drilling campaign aimed at improving geological confidence and supporting future resource upgrades.

What to watch next

The first major milestone is resource conversion. Infill drilling will need to move sufficient material into higher-confidence categories to support detailed mine planning and feasibility work.

The second is the mining lease process, which remains critical to the project’s regulatory pathway.

The third is the bankable feasibility study. This should provide more detailed information on capital requirements, operating assumptions, recoveries, project economics and development scheduling.

For Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE), Samphire has moved beyond conceptual ISR testing, but substantial work remains before it can be considered a development-ready uranium project. The field recovery trial has provided useful technical evidence; the next challenge is converting that evidence into a permitted, financed and economically robust development plan.