Momentum builds at DevEx’s Nabarlek project in the NT’s Alligator Rivers uranium province

Intercepts from the recent drilling at Nabarlek North shows similarities with the uranium mineralisation typical of the nearby Ranger and Jabiluka deposits
Two drill rigs will be spinning at Nabarlek North, Nabarlek South, U42 and the U40 prospects

DevEx Resources is hitting significant mineralisation along strike from previous high-grade hits of up to 0.83% uranium equivalent at Nabarlek, which lies north-east of two of Australia’s most prolific uranium deposits – Ranger and Jabiluka.

The discovery of large, high-grade uranium deposits is nothing new to Alligator Rivers in the NT.

Tim Goyder-backed DexEx Resources (ASX:DEV) is on the hunt for a deposit similar to the mined-out historic Nabarlek deposit or the nearby world-class Ranger mine, which produced 300Mlbs @ 0.23% U3O8 over 40 years.

Nabarlek is considered Australia’s highest-grade uranium mine, with past production of 24Mlbs @ 1.84% U3O8.

And with spot prices pushing above the US$70/lb mark, there’s plenty of reason to prove up yellowcake to meet global demand.

Drilling extended

DevEx, cashed up via a recent $21.1m raise, says ongoing drilling at Nabarlek North is indicating mineralisation may be associated with a north-south cross fault, offset from the Nabarlek fault.

Step-out RC drilling has intersected significant shallow uranium hits such as 11.2m @ 0.33% U3O8 from 41m and 21.5m @ 0.11% U3O8 from 36m, building upon last month’s hits of 4.6m @ 0.32% U3O8 from 47m, including 0.7m @ 0.83% U3O8.

DevEx says the strong chlorite-sericite-haematite alteration geology is typical of other fault-hosted unconformity-type uranium occurrences nearby, including both Jabiluka and Ranger.

DevEx Resources (ASX:DEV) — Down-hole widths of uranium mineralisation at the unconformity. Pic supplied: (DEV)

What’s next?

Two drill rigs are spinning at Nabarlek, with RC drilling concentrating on the Nabarlek North and U40 prospects and further step-out drilling to the south.

The diamond rig is currently testing along the U40 Fault Zone following up uranium intercepts from the 2022 and current 2023 drilling campaigns.

The plan is to follow up existing intercepts of uranium mineralisation with a focus on the Nabarlek and U40 Fault Zones (two main zones) – with infill drilling and step-out drillingl to provide the next steps in understanding the continuity and extent of the uranium mineralisation encountered thus far.

DevEx MD Brendan Bradley says the drilling campaign continues to build momentum, with significant uranium mineralisation returned in the two recent step-out holes north of the historical uranium mine at Nabarlek.

“These holes were drilled along strike from the exciting intercept of 4.6m at 0.32% U3O8 reported last month.

“Importantly, the new intercepts are located in the same stratigraphic position at the unconformity between the overlying sandstone and the underlying Cahill Formation.

“This is a geological host position that is highly significant in some of the world-class uranium deposits of the district. Intensive step-out drilling is underway and we are looking forward to what this can deliver.”

This article was developed in collaboration with DevEx 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.