Canadian uranium developer Denison Mines Corp will work with Alberta-based oil and gas industry service company Penetrators Canada on the application of its MaxPERF downhole drilling tool in in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mining under a purchase arrangement.
Toronto-listed Denison said it had “completed an acquisition of fixed and mobile MaxPERF Tool Systems” from Penetrators, which had agreed to “work exclusively with Denison with respect to the use of the MaxPERF Tool Systems for uranium mining applications in Saskatchewan for a 10-year period”.
Denison CEO David Cates indicated adding the MaxPERF technology to its in-house ISR mining toolkit could help it improve the economics of ISR uranium extraction in Canada’s Athabasca Basin.
The company’s technical services and project evaluation vice president, Chad Sorba, said the MaxPERF deal “represents another important step in our preparations for project execution and commercial ISR mining”.
“MaxPERF has historically been used in the oil and gas sector and was identified by Denison as a potentially useful tool for permeability enhancement to support ISR mining,” he said.
“In 2023, Denison completed a ground-breaking multi-year technical de-risking program at the company’s Phoenix deposit, which rigorously assessed and successfully applied the MaxPERF system to enhance deposit permeability, including its deployment as part of the highly successful feasibility field test program.
“Given the demonstrated success of the technology, we look forward to continuing to work together with the team at Penetrators to use MaxPERF in this new commercial application.”
Established in 1990, Penetrators has developed completion and stimulation systems that it says improve data exchange between wellbores and target zones in producing and injection hydrocarbon wells.
“Denison’s ISR uranium mining technique is an outstanding application for the MaxPERF technology,” Penetrators president Dwayne West said.
