The prospect could become a satellite deposit once the Kayelekera resource has been depleted. Pic: Colin Hawkins (Stone) via Getty Images.
Keep calm and drill on: Lotus finds potential uranium satellite on its doorstep at Livingstonia
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Lotus Resources says that RC drilling at its Livingstonia prospect – 90km from its Kayelekera uranium mine in Malawi – shows potential for a satellite pit.
The program was designed to convert the historic U3O8 Mineral Resource estimate (JORC 2004) into a JORC 2012 compliant Mineral Resource and to test potential extensions.
However, when it returned results of…
- 3m at 733 ppm U3O8 from 94m;
- 4m at 983ppm U3O8 from 87m;
- 4m at 636ppm U3O8 from 74m; and
- 6m at 379ppm U3O8 from 89m.
…the company says the drilling expanded mineralisation by up to 250 metres.
Yep, that’s a quarter KM heading north of the existing resource limits and that in wake of the results, an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is expected later this quarter.
MRE update coming in June
“The acquisition of the Livingstonia prospect last year consolidated the company’s ownership of our southern project area, a known uranium mineralised district that has had very limited exploration work completed over the years,” Lotus Resources (ASX:LOT) MD Keith Bowes said.
“The strategy at Livingstonia has been to complete a small drilling program to confirm historical results and test extensions around the known mineralised area in order to enable preparation of a JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource estimate.
“We believe the drilling has been successful and an updated Mineral Resource estimate is now planned for completion in the June quarter.”
Solid satellite option for Kayelekera
The Kayelekera project hosts a current resource of 46.3Mlbs U3O8 and historically produced ~11MIb of uranium between 2009 and 2014.
The company has completed a positive restart study which demonstrated that Kayelekera can support a viable long-term operation and has the potential to be one of the first uranium projects to recommence production.
Bowles said that while Livingstonia is not included in the current DFS the company believes there is potential for it to become a satellite operation in the future “once the Kayelekera resource has been depleted, especially if similar success with ore sorting can be achieved.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Lotus Resources Limited, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
