TIDMURA
RNS Number : 5648O
Uranium Resources PLC
23 September 2013
Uranium Resources plc / Market: AIM / Epic: URA / Sector:
Exploration
23 September 2013
Uranium Resources plc ('Uranium Resources') or ('the
Company')
Operations update
Uranium Resources plc, the AIM listed uranium exploration and
development company, is pleased to provide a positive update on its
Tanzanian uranium project development and acquisition strategy.
Highlights
-- Mineralogical studies identify uraninite and coffinite as
main uranium minerals and unequivocally validate the Company's
uranium roll-front exploration model at Mtonya
-- The Company is planning a reconnaissance programme on its
licenses in the highly prospective Ruhuhu basin in southwestern
Tanzania
-- Uranium One publishes results of pump tests at its Mkuju
River Project, 60 km north of Mtonya, supporting the Company's
in-situ recovery ('ISR') amenability assumptions for Mtonya
-- Designing a staged step-out and infill reverse circulation
('RC') and diamond drilling programme at Mtonya and at satellite
targets along the 36km long Mtonya Redox Corridor - Lukimwa and
Nyoka
-- Programme to reduce overhead costs implemented
The Company's Managing Director, Alex Gostevskikh, said, "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."
Mtonya Update
The Company has completed an in-house study of mineralogy
(optical and scanning electron microscope studies of thin-polished
sections with mineralised material), which demonstrated that the
uranium mineralisation below the water table comprises uraninite
and coffinite. This conclusion 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.
Ruhuhu Basin Licenses Update
The Company is planning a limited reconnaissance and
target-generation programme on its licenses in the Ruhuhu basin,
southwestern Tanzania, 150 km northwest of the Mtonya deposit. The
Company's current land holdings in the Ruhuhu span approximately
27,920 hectares and are situated within the section of the basin
which is viewed to have the best potential.
The Karoo sediments of the Ruhuhu Basin comprise organic-rich
post-glacial lacustrine shales and coal seams within arkosic
sandstone. This combination of lithologies and structural settings
is thought to be favourable for hosting mineralisation similar to
Paladin's Kayelekera deposit, albeit with ISR amenability.
Discovered in the early 1980s, the Kayelekera deposit is located in
northern Malawi and occurs in the Permian Karoo arkose sandstone of
the North Rukuru basin. The original measured and indicated
resource at Kayelekera was stated at 30 million pounds U3O8 grading
0.089% U3O8 (Paladin Energy Ltd., 2007). The 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. The Company is completing an
exhaustive data compilation and plans a limited reconnaissance
programme for the focus area.
Uranium One's Mkuju River Project Update
TSX-quoted Uranium One has recently presented the following
results of pump test conducted on the Mkuju River Project ('Mkuju
River') sectors that are expected to be amenable to ISR:
-- Hydraulic conductivity: 1.8-5.1 m/day
-- Transmissivity: 18.7-34.3 m(2) /day
-- Carbonate mineralisation (CO(2) ): 0.7%
-- Recovery: 1.2-18 kg/m(2)
-- Borehole yield: 0.1 l/sec
-- Native water mineralisation: <1.0 g/dm(3)
These results indicate that mineralised Karoo sandstone strata
have permeability within the range of parameters recommended by the
International Atomic Energy Agency for ISR projects (IAEA
Tecdoc-1239, 2001). These results are also in line with the
permeability data reported by current ISR operators from Wyoming,
Texas, and New Mexico.
As Mtonya mineralisation occurs 60 km to the south of Mkuju
River and is hosted by the same lithologies, the Company
anticipates that similar results shall be achieved by pump tests at
Mtonya.
Way forward
The Board is enthusiastic about the potential of the Mtonya
Project. Continued exploration and significant increase in Mtonya's
resource are critical to enhancing shareholder value. In agreement
with the recommendations of international mining consultants Roscoe
Postle and Associates, the author of the Company's CIM-complaint
resource, Uranium Resources is currently designing a staged
step-out and infill reverse-circulation (RC) and diamond drilling
campaign at Mtonya and its satellite targets along the 36 km long
Mtonya Redox Corridor - Lukimwa and Nyoka. The envisioned programme
includes pump and metallurgical testwork on the Mtonya
material.
To finance this programme, the Company is reviewing a number of
strategic alternatives including, but not limited to, joint
ventures, strategic partnerships, and mergers or other corporate
transactions to enhance shareholder value.
Major shareholder Estes continues to be supportive of the
Company and, at this stage, has indicated it intends to invest
alongside a suitable strategic investor. The Company will provide
further updates in due course.
In addition to the programme at Mtonya, the Company has been
developing a reconnaissance programme for its new licence in the
Ruhuhu basin, which is considered an excellent prospect for uranium
roll-front deposits amenable to ISR. Using its proprietary methods
of modelling the redox interface and roll-front mineralisation,
Uranium Resources is compiling a comprehensive dataset for its
Ruhuhu Basin tenements which could be prospective for similar ISR
uranium targets.
Reduction of Corporate Overhead Costs
The Company has implemented a number of initiatives to reduce
overhead costs due to ongoing volatility in financial markets and
uncertainty in the uranium sector. The reduction in executive
compensation, services, and Tanzanian office expenditures has led
to a 30% decrease in the Company's overhead costs.
About Uranium Resources plc
Uranium Resources plc (AIM:URA) is a uranium exploration Company
focused in Tanzania and its 100%-owned Mtonya Uranium Project in
the Luwegu Basin, southern Tanzania. Mtonya is a new discovery of
what is viewed to be stacked roll-front uranium mineralisation in
Triassic-age sedimentary sandstone, opening a new area of excellent
exploration potential for additional uranium resources. The Company
anticipates the mineralised sandstone at Mtonya to be amenable to
in-situ recovery.
In May 2013, the Company announced a maiden inferred resource
for the Mtonya deposit comprising 2.014 million pounds U3O8 at 255
ppm U3O8.
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.uraniumresources.co.uk
or contact:
Alex Gostevskikh Uranium Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 7997
713377
Ross Warner Uranium Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 7760
487769
Samantha Harrison RFC Ambrian Ltd (Nomad) Tel: +44 (0) 20 3440
6800
Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236
Ltd 1177
Felicity Edwards St Brides Media & Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236
Ltd 1177
Competent Person's Declaration
The information in this statement that relates to Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information
reviewed by Alex Gostevskikh, Managing Director of Uranium
Resources plc, who is a Member of the Mining and Metallurgical
Society of America. Mr. Gostevskikh has sufficient experience which
is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit
under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to
qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the
'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves' and as a qualified person under the AIM
Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies. Mr. Gostevskikh consents to
the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information
in the form and context in which it appears.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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