Premier American Uranium Announces Comprehensive 2026 Work Program for Cebolleta Uranium Project
TORONTO, March 27, 2026 — Premier American Uranium Inc. (TSXV: PUR, OTCQB: PAUIF) has unveiled detailed plans for its 2026 work program at the flagship Cebolleta Uranium Project in New Mexico. The initiative specifically targets refinements to process assumptions from the 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment, with a primary focus on investigating and maximizing metallurgical recovery of uranium through heap leach processes.
Strategic Focus on Metallurgical Optimization
The $1.1 million program represents a strategic investment following the company's recent $15 million bought-deal financing. According to company leadership, this disciplined approach to capital allocation aims to create significant value through relatively modest investment. The 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment identified metallurgical recovery as a critical sensitivity factor for overall project value, where incremental improvements could substantially impact the project's net present value.
Colin Healey, CEO and Director of Premier American Uranium, emphasized the program's potential: "This relatively small investment is targeting meaningful value creation. As outlined in the 2025 PEA, a 12.5% increase in metallurgical recovery could drive an approximate 90% increase in after-tax NPV, representing about $75 million in additional value."
Comprehensive Technical Program Components
The 2026 work program encompasses multiple technical components designed to optimize recovery assumptions:
- Bulk Sampling Program: Hand-collected samples from mineralized surface exposures in March, providing material representative of open pit mining at the St. Anthony Mine
- Targeted Drilling: Core from up to 16 new drill holes under existing permits, scheduled from late April through June, representing underground mining at Sohio Areas I, II and III
- Metallurgical Testing: A comprehensive 42-week laboratory campaign commencing in May 2026 at Hazen Research, Inc.
Advanced Metallurgical Testing Protocol
The metallurgical program will be led by renowned engineer Dr. Terry McNulty of T.P. McNulty and Associates and includes sophisticated testing methodologies:
- Mineralogical characterization to understand ore composition
- Bottle roll recovery testing for initial recovery assessments
- Long-term column leach tests simulating heap leaching conditions
- Examination of multiple oxidants, lixiviants, and application rates
These tests aim to optimize heap-leach uranium recovery and inform key assumptions for future economic studies. The 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment assumed a base-case metallurgical recovery of 80%, with sensitivity analysis indicating that increasing recovery to 90% could boost the base-case after-tax project net asset value by approximately 90%, from $84 million to $159 million.
Project Timeline and Expected Outcomes
Results from the 2026 work program are expected to be incorporated into an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2027. The company notes that the 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment remains preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources considered too speculative geologically to be categorized as mineral reserves, with no certainty that the assessment will be realized.
The Cebolleta Project, acquired by Premier American Uranium in mid-2024, has been rapidly advanced through resource expansion and the development of the 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment. The 2025 Mineral Resource Estimate positions Cebolleta as one of the largest advanced uranium projects in the United States, with the current work program reinforcing its potential as a key source of domestic uranium production.
