New uranium mineralisation discovered at Gwabe

Results from initial twenty-five hole reconnaissance program at the Gwabe Project in....

  Results from initial twenty-five hole reconnaissance program at the Gwabe Project in Zambia confirm the presence of sandstone hosted uranium mineralisation with potentially economic grades and thicknesses at shallow depths that may be amenable to open pit extraction.The discovery of mineralisation at Gwabe is further confirmation of the high prospectivity for uranium in the African Energy Resources’ extensive tenement holdings within the Karoo Basins of Zambia.African Energy (71% owned by Energy Ventures Ltd) has announced assay results from the first 25 holes of its initial phase of aircore/RC drill testing of the Gwabe uranium anomaly in Zambia.An initial program of 400m by 100m spaced aircore/RC holes was drilled to test the extent of the 5km long airborne-radiometric uranium anomaly. Results from handheld gamma-ray scintillometer assessment of the drill cuttings indicated that many of the holes drilled at the northern end of the anomaly contained significant zones where the radiation levels are more than twice background levels, and a decision to immediately proceed to an infill drilling program on a 200m by 50m grid was taken.Assay results have been received for the first 25 holes drilled into the northern anomaly, with 11 of these 25 holes containing uranium mineralisation greater than 100ppm U3O8 over drilled widths of one metre or more, with several holes indicating mineralised thicknesses of 8 to 18m. All of these mineralised holes arecharacterised by zones where the scintillometer identified radiation at more than twice background levels.Uranium mineralisation is hosted in oxidised, coarse grained sandstones, grits and pebble conglomerates which overly a non-mineralised, reduced silty-shale horizon. The mineralisation dips very gently to the south-east, and occurs at very shallow depths between 3m and 29m below surface.The program of infill drilling is now almost complete, with a further 85 to 90 holes either completed or planned for completion within the next week. Scintillometer assessments of radiation levels in these infill holes indicate that a broadly continuous zone of mineralisation may be present over a strike extent of 800 to 1,000m, and that this zone may still be open to the north-east.. Assay results from the infill drilling phase, comprising approximately 65% of the entire drilling program are expected in August.