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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Dasa is a uranium project in Niger’s Agadez Region. Its feasibility report describes an underground mine accessed by a decline and designed for longhole open stoping—not in-situ recovery (ISR). ISR is a different method that dissolves uranium underground with a circulating solution and pumps it to a surface plant.
Where is the Dasa uranium project?
The Dasa deposit is in northern Niger’s Agadez Region, in the rural commune of Tchirozérine, east of the RN25 highway. The project assessment describes uranium mineralization hosted in Cretaceous sandstones of the Tim Mersoï basin. The location and geological context are given in the DFC-hosted ESIA non-technical summary.
Dasa is situated in a region with a history of uranium mining. Environmental and social assessment materials for the project include an ESIA, a non-technical summary and an addendum; the DFC document index lists these materials. They describe management planning and proposed measures, not independently verified environmental or social outcomes.
Is Dasa an in-situ recovery mine?
No. The Dasa feasibility report describes an underground mine reached by a decline, using mechanized longhole open stoping with fill. That design involves underground workings and ore handling; it is distinct from ISR, in which uranium is dissolved in place and recovered as a solution. The project method is documented in Global Atomic Corporation’s Dasa Uranium Project Feasibility Study, NI 43-101 Technical Report.
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The distinction matters because ISR is a general extraction method, not a synonym for uranium mining as a whole. The Dasa report’s selected underground design should not be confused with the separate process described below.
How does in-situ recovery uranium mining work?
ISR, also called in-situ leaching or solution mining, leaves the ore underground during recovery. In broad terms, the operator circulates a fluid through a suitable uranium-bearing formation, brings the uranium-bearing solution to the surface, and processes it there. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) describes the method and its facilities in its pages on in-situ recovery facilities and uranium recovery methods.
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- Inject a lixiviant. Wells deliver a lixiviant—a fluid used to dissolve minerals—into a uranium-bearing formation that is suitable for ISR.
- Dissolve uranium underground. As the fluid moves through the formation, it dissolves uranium minerals and carries uranium into solution.
- Recover the solution. Recovery wells pump the uranium-bearing fluid back to the surface.
- Process the fluid. A surface plant separates and concentrates the uranium from the solution.
The NRC says lixiviants typically use water with oxygen and/or hydrogen peroxide, along with sodium carbonate or carbon dioxide. That is a description of common chemistry, not a universal recipe for every operation.
What makes a uranium deposit suitable for ISR?
ISR is possible only under certain subsurface conditions, as the NRC notes in its uranium recovery methods overview. The process depends on geology and hydrology that allow the fluid to circulate through the mineralized formation and the uranium-bearing solution to be recovered. A uranium deposit’s presence alone does not establish that ISR is appropriate.
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| Aspect | In-situ recovery | Dasa feasibility design |
|---|---|---|
| Where ore is handled | Uranium is dissolved in the formation underground; ore is not excavated and transported for processing. | The feasibility report describes underground workings and conventional ore handling. |
| Recovery route | Injection and recovery wells circulate solution to a surface processing plant. | A decline provides access to the mine; the design uses longhole open stoping with fill. |
| Key constraint | Requires suitable subsurface conditions for solution circulation and recovery. | The feasibility report sets out an underground mine design for Dasa. |
The ISR descriptions are from the NRC’s ISR facilities overview and recovery methods overview; Dasa’s design comes from the feasibility report. These sources establish the methods, but do not provide a like-for-like basis for broad claims that one is always safer, less costly or environmentally preferable.
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