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Uranium Resources (LES:URA), an AIM listed uranium exploration and development company, has provided an update on its Tanzanian uranium project development and acquisition strategy.
Mineralogical studies have identified uraninite and coffinite as main uranium minerals and unequivocally validate the Company’s uranium roll-front exploration model at the company’s Mtonya site, which is also planning a reconnaissance programme on its licenses in the highly prospective Ruhuhu basin in southwestern Tanzania.
In a statement the company said the results from the Mtonya site “unequivocally supports the uranium roll-front exploration model for Mtonya. The study has also shown that the host rock contains less than 5% of carbonate minerals, signifying that the Mtonya mineralisation may be amenable to the least expensive methods of ISR”.
The company’s reconnaissance and target-generation programme plans for its licenses in the Ruhuhu basin, southwestern Tanzania, 150 km northwest of the Mtonya deposit, follow research that suggests “favourable” lithologies and structural settings for hosting mineralisation.
Data compiled by the company for the Ruhuhu basin indicate persuasive similarities between the architecture and lithological composition of the North Rukuru and Ruhuhu basins and suggest that the Company’s methodology may prove successful for discovering uranium mineralisation amenable to ISR in the Ruhuhu basin.
Uranium Resources’ Managing Director, Alex Gostevskikh, argued that the “present state of the nuclear fuel market strongly underscores the need for resources that can be extracted with maximum economic efficiency. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, despite the substantial investment into uranium exploration, reasonably assured resources recoverable at costs below US$80 per pound U3O8 have fallen by 20% between 2009 and 2011”.
“As the market continues to remain soft, low-cost resources deplete at an even faster pace. These conditions further justify the Company’s chosen focus on resources amenable to ISR. Meanwhile significant value upside is being built-in for the time when the uranium market recovers, especially as we continue to anticipate the ultimate exploration target to be on a par or larger than the Mkuju River Project resource” said Mr Gostevskikh.
