Resource

Uranium

Project name

Samphire Uranium Project targeting the Blackbush deposit.

Company

Alligator Energy Ltd - Alligator Energy acquired all the shares in S (Samphire) Uranium Limited, the listed tenement holder, in October 2020 and subsequently liquidated S Uranium into Alligator Energy.

Status

Consultation on Alligator Energy’s retention lease application to undertake a proposed field recovery trial closed on 20 September 2023. The retention lease application is currently under assessment.

Alligator Energy has to date undertaken exploration drilling programs to identify the potential uranium resources. These activities have been authorised by the exploration licence and approved exploration programs.

Proposed operations

Alligator Energy is seeking authorisation to undertake a limited scale field recovery trial using in situ recovery (ISR) mining techniques.

ISR involves pumping a mining solution (called a lixiviant) underground into a pattern of injection wells to dissolve the minerals which are then pumped to the surface through a recovery well in the centre of the injection wells.

More information on the ISR mining technique

Alligator Energy propose a field recovery trial which will run for approximately 3 months and will involve up to 5 wellfield patterns (arrays) each with a central recovery well surrounded by 4 or 5 injection wells spaced approximately 10 m apart. The total footprint area is estimated to be less than 2.5 hectares.

Fluids extracted from the central recovery well is then circulated through a containerised ion exchange plant which captures the uranium before recycling the fluids for reinjection and repetition of the cycle.

The retention lease application provides detailed information on the proposed operations including the methods proposed to rehabilitate the site at completion of the field recovery trial.

Location

The Samphire Uranium Project site is approximately 20 km southwest of Whyalla on Eyre Peninsula.

Tenement application information

  • Alligator Energy has submitted a retention lease application to allow the completion of the proposed ISR field recovery trial.
  • The proposed retention lease covers an area of 237.77 hectares.
  • The Samphire Uranium Project is located within exploration lease EL 5926 which covers an area of 332 square kilometres.

The deposit

Information on the Samphire Uranium Project and the broader Blackbush deposit can be found on Alligator Energy's website

Application and approval process

Under the South Australian Mining Act 1971 a retention lease is required to carry out operations to support a (future) application for a mining lease where these operations are not suited to be conducted under an exploration licence. Uranium field recovery trial operations fall into this category.

Alligator Energy (on behalf of S Uranium Pty Ltd as tenement holder) submitted a retention lease application and supporting proposal on 7 March 2023.

The proposal was resubmitted by Alligator Energy on 11 April 2023 (Version 1.0) and again on 22 July 2023 (Version 2.0) incorporating additional information and document edits to reflect a preliminary review by the Department for Energy and Mining.

The Department for Energy and Mining is seeking public input into the application and has instigated a review across other relevant South Australian Government departments.

Should a retention lease be granted, it would be lilmited to the operations outlined in the application. It is not possible to undertake commercial mining operations on a retention lease. A separate mining lease application process would be required to authorise commercial mining operations.

Retention leases require the approval of a separate operational program for environment protection and rehabilitation (PEPR) before any on-ground works can be undertaken.

Alligator Energy would also be required to meet the requirements of any other applicable legislation including but not limited to the Environment Protection Act 1993 and the Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021.

The Samphire Uranium Project retention lease proposal

Information about the proposal can be found on the Samphire Uranium Project page under the Community engagement opportunities (public notices) page of the DEM website.