Globe, Aura Energy shoot up on uranium

The share prices of two Perth-based companies have shot up 40% or more today on the back of uranium and other commodity results from their projects in Malawi and Sweden.

West Perth-based Globe Uranium Limited has more than doubled its expectations as it today unveiled a 56 million tonne multi-commodity resource at its Kayika project, claiming it to be the largest metals deposit in Malawi.

News of the resource saw the company's shares jump 40% to an intraday high of 35c before closing at 31c.

The 56.4Mt resource figure is a boon for the company which has so far spent $3 million on the project since acquiring it at zero cost two years ago. Included in the resource is 4000 tonnes of uranium oxide, 6600t of tantalum and 272,400t of zirconium.

However the 145,500t of steel additive niobium included in the overall resource figure could signal a change for the uranium-focused company.

Demand for niobium has increased 20% over the past five years on the back of the China and India story.

Managing director Mark Sumich said there was still potential to add to the resource with mineralisation remaining open to the north, south and at depth.

"The high-grade, mostly near-surface component of the resource (14Mt or 25% of the 56Mt total) lends itself to early open cut mining at a very low strip ratio, thereby reducing capital payback period," Mr Sumich said.

"This can be critical to securing debt funding for mine development."

The project's scoping study, undertaken by Coffey Mining, is due for completion in the second quarter of this year.

Globe currently has $8.9 million in cash.

Meanwhile shares in Aura Energy soared 65% to an intraday high of 33c before closing at 24c, on the back of the company's first drill hole at its Sweden project.

The drill result contained 228 metres of the uranium-vanadium-molybdenum and nickel bearing Alum Shale, which is said to contain high uranium concentrations.

The result was intersected some 20m from surface and drill samples will be sent to a laboratory for analysis.

"...to obtain this thickness in the first hole is well beyond our expectations. This result both confirms our interpretations, and sets the scene for the remainder of our [exploration] program," Aura managing director Bob Beeson said.