Key Highlights

  • Bottle roll tests recovered about 85.9% and 81.9% of uranium after 25 days, and column tests recovered 81.0% and 80.8% over 62 days.
  • Acid consumption was about 3 kg/t during the main extraction period, rising to between 7.0 and 7.6 kg/t by the end of the 62-day column tests.
  • The two composites averaged about 167 ppm U3O8 head grade, and the test work was carried out by Mintek in South Africa.

Atomic Eagle Limited (ASX:AEU, OTCQX: AEUXF) reported on 6 October 2026 the results of metallurgical test work on drill core from the recently discovered Muntanga East uranium deposit, part of its 100%-owned Muntanga Uranium Project in Zambia. The company says the results show that the favourable heap leach metallurgy seen at the project's historical deposits extends to Muntanga East.

Test program design

The work was conducted by Mintek in South Africa on two composite samples, labelled ME1 and ME2, prepared from diamond core collected after the Muntanga East Mineral Resource was delineated. The company states the core is representative of the resource. Material was crushed to a nominal top size of 25 mm and put through diagnostic leach testing, bottle roll tests, column leach tests and heap leach geotechnical assessments. The average head grade of the composites was approximately 167 ppm U3O8, which the company notes is lower grade than has historically been tested from several of the project's other deposits.

Bottle roll results

Bottle roll tests recovered 85.9% of uranium from ME1 and 81.9% from ME2 after 25 days of leaching, with acid consumption of approximately 3 kg/t in both cases. Dissolution was effectively complete after about seven days, which the company reads as rapid leaching kinetics and a high proportion of readily leachable uranium minerals. It adds that roughly 80% of the uranium in the ore sits in minerals that dissolve readily under conventional acid heap leach conditions.

Column leach results

Column tests used one-metre-high columns operating under conditions representative of heap leaching. Both composites reached recoveries of about 81%: 81.0% for ME1 and 80.8% for ME2. Recovery curves flattened after roughly 15 to 20 days, at which point acid consumption was about 3 kg/t. The tests continued for 62 days, delivering only modest additional uranium recovery while total acid consumption increased to 7.0 kg/t for ME1 and 7.6 kg/t for ME2. The headline low acid figure therefore applies to the early extraction period rather than to the full length of the column tests.

Heap leach physical characteristics

Particle size analysis showed low fines content and minimal fines generation during leaching, which the company says reduces the risk of permeability loss. Stacking assessments simulating a six-metre heap measured hydraulic conductivity of about 4,537 to 4,396 L/m²/h, which the release says is more than four times the design threshold typically required for heap leaching, alongside favourable bulk density and porosity.

The results will be incorporated into ongoing technical studies and are described as supporting the potential integration of Muntanga East into future mine development planning. The release does not provide cost estimates, a process flowsheet or a mine plan. Atomic Eagle's Muntanga Project holds a JORC Mineral Resource of 58.8 million pounds at 309 ppm U3O8, and the company also holds a 60% interest in the Madaouela Uranium Project in Niger.

Reporting basis and portfolio references

The company describes Muntanga East as having shallow mineralisation located close to the central resource area of the Muntanga Project, and says the test results will feed ongoing technical studies. The metallurgical information was reviewed by Dr Stefan Robertson of Mintek, a member of the SAIMM, who is named as the Competent Person for the test work.

Atomic Eagle's wider portfolio includes the Madaouela Uranium Project in Niger, where it holds a 60% interest. The Madaouela estimate of 116.5 million pounds at 1,282 ppm U3O8 is a foreign estimate prepared under Canadian NI 43-101 and is not reported under the JORC Code, and the company says it is uncertain that it will be able to be reported as a JORC Mineral Resource.