Lotus has expanded its uranium footprint in Malawi with the acquisition of the Livingstonia project that could quickly add to its existing resource base.

The company paid just US$25,000 for Livingstonia and its historical inferred JORC 2004 resource of 6 million pounds of uranium oxide, or a paltry price of less than 0.4c per pound of U3O8.

While work will be required to convert this resource to an industry standard JORC 2012 compliant resource, it highlights the potential for the project to become a satellite of the company’s flagship Kayelekera project just 90km away.

Lotus Resources (ASX:LOT) adds that there are multiple exploration targets across Livingstonia as historical drilling at its boundary had ended in mineralisation.

There are also a number of broader, yet sparsely drilled, zones of mineralisation that could host higher-grade offshoots from the existing resource given drill results such as 8m at 1,180 parts per million eU3O8 and 3.6m at 1,800ppm eU3O8.

“This is an extremely accretive acquisition for Lotus with the potential to increase our global mineral resource by 16% for less than $0.004/lb U3O8. More importantly, we have increased our landholding at the highly prospective, yet poorly explored Livingstonia region, to 187sqkm,” managing director Keith Bowes said.

“There are multiple walk up, drill ready targets across our Livingstonia tenements, including at the boundary of the Livingstonia resource where an airborne radiometric survey indicates mineralisation continues into our existing tenements.

“This area, as well as the high-grade intercepts previously reported, will be the basis of the first phase of exploration which will commence towards the end of this year.

“Other prospective targets, including Livingstonia North and Chilumba, will be tested in future exploration programs.”

Bowes added that in the event of exploration success, the company would carry out ore sorting test work on Livingstonia material in 2022 to determine if it could become a future satellite operation.

lotus resources livingstonia drill intercepts uranium
Livingstonia significant intercepts with trend extensions to the north. Pic: Supplied

Livingstonia project and upcoming work.

Livingstonia is located in northern Malawi about 90km southeast of the Kayelekera uranium mine.

It is hosted in the same Karoo-equivalent sedimentary sequence that hosts the main deposit associated with Kayelekera.

Livingstonia North, which is already held by Lotus, is situated directly along-trend of the Livingstonia uranium resource, with drilling at the northern end of the Livingstonia deposit supporting a continuation of mineralisation into Livingstonia North.

The airborne radiometric anomaly at Livingstonia is coincident with the resource and this anomaly continues into Livingstonia North.

A parallel radiometric anomaly also exists in Livingstonia North that may indicate additional mineralisation.

location lotus resources livinstonia project uranium
Location of the Livingstonia project. Pic: Supplied

The company plans to carry out ground-based exploration and sampling along the Livingstonia North trend as well as a reverse circulation drill program to test the extensions of the Livingstonia mineral resource and investigate the potential higher grade zones within the resource boundary.

It will also focus on completing the work required to update the historical resource to JORC 2012 standards.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Lotus Resources, 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.