On-ground exploration commences at Gardiner-Tanami Super Project

Following completion of airborne surveys, on-ground exploration activities....

  Following completion of airborne surveys, on-ground exploration activities will commence this month at the Gardiner-Tanami Super Project by the project operator, Afmeco Mining and Exploration.Afmeco Mining and Exploration, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the French nuclear group, Areva, are targeting high-grade unconformity-related uranium deposits at the Gardiner-Tanami Super Project, which straddles the Western Australian/ Northern Territory border. Northern Uranium Executive Chairman, Kevin Schultz said upon completion of this program, the company will be in a position to begin delineating the highest priority uranium drill targets, with a drilling program likely to commence in 2008.“Areva’s ‘whole of project’ approach to the exploration program reflects their experience in the Athabasca Basin in Canada, which hosts the world’s highest grade unconformity-related uranium deposits,” Mr Schultz said. The on-ground exploration will commence in late September in the Gardiner Range, Browns Range and Denison Range areas of WA, targeting surface anomalies defined by radiometrics, as well as historical uranium occurrences. The focus will the shift to the Suplejack region in the NT. The on-ground activities will involve helicopter-supported detailed geological mapping, radiometric surveying and rock chip sampling. Data from the on-ground surveys over coming months will be integrated with the results of the airborne geophysical surveys to generate targets with the highest potential for success for drilling in 2008.Following the on-ground reconnaissance exploration program, and the processing and interpretation of all recently acquired geophysical data, the exploration program will focus on further definition and refinement of potential drill targets. This phase will include detailed ground-based EM surveys, geological mapping and geochemical sampling where appropriate. It is anticipated that drill testing of these targets will commence in 2008.