PhosEnergy

Summary

PhosEnergy is the ‘new technology’ process being developed for extraction of uranium from phosphoric acid streams.  The PhosEnergy Process is being developed by Uranium Equities Limited (“UEQ”) through a USA registered company, Urtek LLC (“Urtek”). UEQ holds a 16.67% interest in Urtek and has rights to secure 90% interest through funding of the ongoing technology development. Phosphoric acid streams are usually generated in the production of superphosphate fertilisers from rock phosphate, an industry that is currently undergoing rapid worldwide growth. Uranium is a common low level constituent of rock phosphate and has been produced as a byproduct in the past.

The PhosEnergy Process is being developed jointly with a leading producer of phosphate fertilisers and phosphoric acid, at an overseas operational site. This work is carried out in conjunction with, and under exclusive arrangements with, two leading Australian technology developers, ANSTO (The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) and QED Occtech Services Pty Ltd.

 

Historical Situation

Historically, significant uranium production has been derived from phosphoric acid with global production peaking at more than 4.5 million pounds U3O8 per annum in the period 1978 to 1983 and with the majority of production in the USA, as shown in the graph below. Production from these by-product sources substantially ceased globally in the late 1990's as the price of uranium declined below US$20 per pound, and the prevailing extraction technologies, with their high capital and operating costs, failed to compete with more conventional sources of uranium.

 

USA Production of U3O8 from Phosphoric Acid

 

Marine phosphate deposits (the phosphates containing uranium) that are processed in phosphoric acid plants are amenable to uranium recovery currently account for in excess of 50% of the worlds output of phosphate based fertilizer products. There is a significant growth in the phosphoric acid business driven by developing nations, and the demand for (corn based) bio-fuels globally.

Currently it is estimated that 8,500 t/a U3O8 could theoretically be recovered from wet phosphoric acid plants world-wide.

 

The PhosEnergy Process

The PhosEnergy Process utilises cutting edge technology to continuously treat phosphoric acid streams to extract uranium. This new generation technology will, on current indications, result in a uranium production process which reduces waste generation, is less expensive to operate, and generates a uranium product that exceeds the most stringent convertor specifications and the latest American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard.

Applications to patent key features of the PhosEnergy Process technology have been filed.

Whilst the recent revival of the uranium market has renewed interest in the recovery of uranium from phosphoric acid, there is resistance to simply revert to the historical extraction processes. The PhosEnergy Process, however, has a number of distinct advantages:

Operating costs: The process has the potential to operate at significantly lower costs than traditional circuits which operated in the 3rd and 4th quartile of past uranium producers. From testwork results achieved to date, the PhosEnergy Process indicates production of uranium at operating costs of US$25-30/lb U3O8, which is in the lowest quartile uranium production coming online over the next 5 years.
Operational Advantages: Traditional circuits had numerous operational and maintainability issues that attributed to the high operating cost, but also led to high downtimes affecting production rates. PhosEnergy is potentially simpler and easier to operate and maintain.
Ore quality: Over the past 20 years the quality of phosphate resources has, in general, been decreasing, i.e., a reduction in phosphate and uranium content and an increase in deleterious components. The PhosEnergy Process has the potential to extract or reduce contaminants yet produce a quality uranium product.
Separation of Radioactive Wastes: Historical processes produced significant quantities of radioactive solid waste requiring disposal. This disposal in most cases, will be a more expensive and difficult exercise than in the past, requiring more specialised treatment methods. Testwork has demonstrated that the PhosEnergy Process can achieve high levels of uranium extraction with a significant reduction in radioactive process waste products.
 
Current Status

The development of the PhosEnergy Process has advanced to the pilot scale testwork stage with a major phosphoric acid producer. Completion of this stage of development, which may lead to a decision to undertake the evaluation of a commercial scale plant, is expected within the next 12 months. Following successful completion of commercial scale testwork, it is anticipated that the PhosEnergy Process could be in commercial application as soon as 2011.

Currently, a pilot scale plant is being constructed at an established phosphoric acid operational site with a view to start pilot operations during mid to late 2008. Piloting of the key areas of the proposed flow sheet on live liquor will enable the testwork to advance in an integrated manner and will enable more accurate determination of future capital and operating costs. This will also allow for the optimisation of the downstream unit operations and the development of the design basis for a larger demonstration plant, if required.

The intellectual property developed during the project is owned jointly by the parties except for certain intellectual property expressly reserved individually by the parties.

UEQ currently provides personnel and funds to support its share of the technology development and is earning an increased equity position in Urtek.


Key UEQ Staff working on site

 

The PhosEnergy Opportunity

Worldwide, the annual potential production of uranium from phosphate rock/phosphoric acid has been estimated at 8,500 t U3O8 (19 M lb U3O8) per annum. Historically, production from phosphoric acid peaked at 1,700 – 2,400 t U3O8 per annum during 1978 – 1983. All worldwide uranium production from these sources ceased in the early 1990s as a consequence of high operating costs and falling (low) uranium prices.

The operating cost of reviving the traditional “uranium from wet phosphoric acid extraction technology” in today’s economic climate is estimated to be US$50-70/lb U3O8 which compares with current spot prices of US$60-70 per pound.

However, new challenges to reviving the traditional extraction technologies are more than economic. Significant changes in the administration and management of low level radioactive wastes have been introduced since the 1980s which will hinder the permitting of these technologies, as well as potentially further increase capital and operating costs.

The estimated low operating costs indicate commercially robust production via the PhosEnergy Process in volatile market conditions. These estimated production costs will place the PhosEnergy process in the lowest quartile of ‘new’ uranium production.

Given the results achieved to date, there is potential for UEQ and its partners to secure a significant position in the future production of uranium from phosphate ores on a worldwide basis.

 


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