-- Clean TeQ Water’s ATA® and MBIX Technologies Adopted in Aura Energy’s Tiris Uranium Bankable Feasibility Study
Clean TeQ Water notes the release by Aura Energy of the Bankable Feasibility Study for the Tiris Uranium Project in Mauritania. The processing flowsheet adopted in the BFS incorporates two of Clean TeQ’s proprietary technologies: the ATA® dewatering system for post-leach solid-liquid separation, and MBIX moving-bed ion exchange for uranium recovery.
Highlights
Tiris BFS Released
Aura Energy Limited (ASX: AEE, AIM: AURA) has released the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) for its Tiris Uranium Project in Mauritania.
Clean TeQ Technologies Adopted
Clean TeQ Water’s ATA® dewatering system and MBIX (Moving Bed Ion Exchange) have been adopted in the BFS processing flowsheet, replacing the pressure filtration and fixed-bed ion exchange carried in earlier studies.
Pilot Testing Ahead
Both technologies will be operated on Tiris ore in Aura’s pilot plant at Bir Moghrein during November and December 2026, ahead of a final investment decision (FID) targeted for December 2026.
ATA® Performance Validated
The BFS reports that ATA® was the only post-leach dewatering option tested that was shown to be robust across the full range of Tiris ore variability, achieving separation and washing in a single step. Bench-scale counter-current wash tests recovered up to 97.8% of the soluble uranium, with residue reporting at approximately 67% solids, rising to 79% with vibration-assisted dewatering and suitable for return to mined-out pits.
Pilot Contract Secured
Clean TeQ Water has been contracted to deliver its scope of the pilot programme. No binding arrangements are in place at this stage for the supply or licensing of the technologies for the project.
Clean TeQ Water technologies in the Tiris flowsheet
ATA® is a complete dewatering system that conditions the leached slurry before filtration. Dual polymer conditioning binds the fine clay to coarse sand, forming a granular, free-draining structure that holds its shape under vacuum on standard horizontal vacuum belt filters. Because the structure stays open, the residue can be washed on the belt in four counter-current stages using diluted ion exchange barren liquor, so separation and washing are achieved in a single step and washing consumes no fresh water. Three belt filters operate in parallel in the BFS design.
Uranium is recovered from the resulting solution by MBIX. Resin moves continuously from column to column against the flow of solution. Compared with the fixed-bed ion exchange assumed in earlier studies, the use of MBIX results in improved solids tolerance, better resin utilisation, lower reagent and water consumption and a more concentrated uranium solution for downstream precipitation.
Dewatering clay-rich slurry with ATA® and recovering uranium through MBIX
Pilot plant and path to FID
Aura’s Tiris Optimised Pilot Plant at Bir Moghrein replicates the full commercial flowsheet and is due to operate during November and December 2026, processing approximately 80 tonnes of ore across the main ore types.
Clean TeQ Water has been contracted by Aura to deliver its scope of the pilot programme, comprising supply of the ATA® and MBIX pilot units and technical support during operation. Results will feed into detailed design, and contribute to Aura’s targeted FID in December 2026.
Other than the pilot programme and engineering scope described above, there are no binding commercial arrangements between Clean TeQ Water and Aura in respect of the Tiris Project.
Significance for Clean TeQ Water
Adoption in a bankable feasibility study of this nature is a significant step for Clean TeQ’s technology platform.
If adopted, Tiris would be Clean TeQ Water’s second commercial-scale ATA® deployment. Clean TeQ Water is delivering a 750,000 t/y ATA® tailings dewatering plant, now in fabrication and moving into construction and installation, for the Rasp mine at Broken Hill, New South Wales, under a design and construct contract awarded in May 2026 and supported by a long-term polymer supply and technology licence agreement; Clean TeQ’s first recurring revenue stream from ATA®.
“Our technologies earn their place in a flowsheet by taking cost and risk out of the hardest step in it,” says Clean TeQ Water CEO Peter Voigt.
“At Tiris that means three belt filters in place of thirteen filter presses, more than 97% of the dissolved uranium recovered in washing, a residue that can be stacked back in the pit, and no fresh water used to wash it.”
“Having both ATA® and MBIX adopted in a bankable study, in the same year our first ATA® plant was contracted at Rasp, is exactly the path we set out to build, and we look forward to proving them on Tiris ore at Bir Moghrein next month.”
“Tiris is a simple, robust project, and the post-leach flowsheet is a large part of why,” says Aura Energy Executive Chair Philip Mitchell.
“ATA® was the only dewatering option we tested that held up across the full range of our ore, and together with MBIX it gives us a plant that separates, washes and recovers uranium in fewer steps, with a residue we can return straight to the pits.”
“Clean TeQ Water has worked alongside us from bench testwork through to engineering and pricing the packages in the BFS. Running both technologies on Tiris ore at Bir Moghrein in November will give our financing partners further confidence as we move towards an investment decision in December.”
Information sourced from Aura Energy
Information in this release about the Tiris Uranium Project, including the BFS, testwork results and development timetable, is drawn from Aura’s ASX and AIM announcement dated 16 October 2026 titled Bankable Feasibility Study (https://api.investi.com.au/api/announcements/aee/c5f0d52a-897.pdf) confirms Tiris as a low-cost, near-term uranium producer. Clean TeQ Water has not independently verified that information. Readers should refer to Aura’s announcement for the full results, the material assumptions and the cautionary statements that apply to them.
Release ID: 89206385
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