Project Design

The best design for the Michelin Project is one that ensures a safe and efficient mining and milling operation, while also being respectful of other land uses and the local environment. With this in mind, Aurora will design facilities that minimize the negative environmental impacts and environmental footprint during construction, operation, and decommissioning.

The design and operation of the mine and mill will be governed not only by regulations and industry best practice, but also with the community in mind. This will be demonstrated through an ongoing environmental monitoring program involving local representatives.

Infrastructure

The Michelin Project proposes conventional open-pit and underground mines at the Michelin and Jacques Lake deposits. A processing mill with the capacity to process 10,000 tonnes of ore per day would be located at the Michelin site. Most of the buildings, including maintenance facilities, employee accommodations, and the water treatment plant, would also be located at the Michelin site.

Roads would connect both sites to a port at Kaipokok Bay, near Postville. A 140-kilometre, year-round service road would link the mine sites to North West River and it is expected that power would be provided by a transmission line connecting to grid power from the Newfoundland and Labrador hydro electric system.

Mining and Milling

Michelin – Open Pit and Underground Mining

At Michelin, we are planning an open pit operation reaching 175 metres deep, with an underground operation reaching 850 metres below the surface. We will access underground using a vertical shaft and a spiral ramp (also known as a decline). Both of these would be located outside the open pit.

Michelin Site Layout

Jacques Lake – Open Pit and Underground Mining

At Jacques Lake, we are planning an open pit reaching about 200 metres deep, with an underground operation reaching to around 400 metres below the surface. We will access underground using two spiral ramps, one within the open pit and one outside it.

The methods described here for mining the Michelin and Jacques Lake deposits are conventional mining methods that have been used safely and efficiently at other mining operations around the world. Where necessary, they would be tailored to ensure any unique environmental conditions at either site are taken into account.

Jacques Lake Site Layout

Mill (located at the Michelin mine site)

Aurora has completed the Michelin Pilot Plant Study, which confirmed the best options for processing material from the Michelin and Jacques Lake deposits. The study also provided information for the design of tailings management systems. For the pilot plant, Aurora used several thousand samples of ore from Michelin and Jacques Lake. The pilot plant, which was constructed and operated at the SGS Minerals Services laboratory in Lakefield, Ontario, operated continuously for 19 days.

The results of this testing were very encouraging. We achieved 87.5% uranium recovery through an effective milling process. Further, we accomplished this with modest energy use and low use of consumables. The pilot plant included the production of tailings water, which was treated using the same process we will use in the water treatment plant at the Michelin site. The water was tested for toxicity by an accredited independent testing laboratory using rainbow trout and water fleas (these are standard test species and are common in fresh water bodies throughout North America). The treated water was found to meet regulated standards of non-toxicity.

Production Schedule

Aurora’s Preliminary Economic Assessment is based on an annual milling rate of 3.65 million tonnes of rock, with daily production of 10,000 tonnes - 6,500 tonnes coming from underground and the remaining 3,500 tonnes from open pit operations.

The plan is to have the Michelin open pit and underground operations start at the same time, followed by open-pit mining at Jacques Lake starting in Year 9 and underground starting in Year 12, providing an overlap with Michelin operations.

Our current production timeline has us reaching the 3.65 million tonnes per year throughput level by Year 2 of operation, and maintaining this rate until Year 15, when operations would begin to wind down. However, this timeline is based on currently identified resources, and we believe there is significant opportunity for resource growth and expansion.