Atomic Eagle Limited (ASX:AEU) has released metallurgical test work results from its recently discovered Muntanga East uranium deposit in Zambia, reporting heap leach recoveries in line with the rest of its Muntanga project and markedly lower acid consumption.

According to the announcement released on 6 October 2026, leach tests on drill core from Muntanga East achieved uranium recoveries of between about 81% and 86%, with acid consumption of about 3 kilograms per tonne during the main extraction period.

What the tests involved

The programme was carried out by Mintek in South Africa on two composite samples, ME1 and ME2, prepared from diamond core drilled specifically for metallurgical work after the Muntanga East resource was delineated. The company said the samples are representative of the resource. The material was crushed to a nominal top size of 25 millimetres, and the composites had an average head grade of about 167 ppm U3O8.

In bottle roll tests, recoveries were 85.9% for ME1 and 81.9% for ME2 after 25 days, with acid consumption of about 3 kilograms per tonne. The company said uranium dissolution was effectively complete after about seven days, indicating rapid leaching, and that roughly 80% of the uranium occurs in minerals that dissolve readily under conventional acid heap leach conditions.

Column leach tests, using one-metre columns intended to represent heap conditions, delivered recoveries of 81.0% and 80.8%. Recovery curves flattened after 15 to 20 days, when acid consumption was still about 3 kilograms per tonne. Leaching continued to 62 days, but this added only modest further recovery while total acid consumption rose to 7.0 and 7.6 kilograms per tonne.

Physical suitability for heap leaching

The company said the material showed low fines content and little fines generation during leaching, reducing the risk of permeability loss. Stacking tests simulating a six-metre heap measured hydraulic conductivity of roughly 4,396 to 4,537 litres per square metre per hour, which Atomic Eagle said is more than four times the threshold typically required.

Chief executive Phil Hoskins said the ability to achieve high recoveries through simple heap leaching with low reagent use is one of the project's defining strengths, allowing lower-grade mineralisation to be mined and recovered economically. He said Muntanga East's shallow mineralisation, proximity to the central resource area and favourable metallurgy gave confidence it would help enhance the project's scale and economics.

Context and next steps

Muntanga is Atomic Eagle's 100%-owned flagship, with a JORC Mineral Resource of 58.8 million pounds at 309 ppm U3O8. The company also holds 60% of the Madaouela project in Niger, which hosts a foreign estimate of 116.5 million pounds at 1,282 ppm U3O8. That estimate is not reported under the JORC Code, a Competent Person has not done sufficient work to classify it, and it is uncertain whether it can be reported as a Mineral Resource following further work.

The company said the Muntanga East results will be incorporated into ongoing technical studies and provide additional confidence in its potential inclusion in future mine development planning. The metallurgical results were reviewed by Dr Stefan Robertson of Mintek as Competent Person.