Okapi wins approval to begin drilling Tallahassee Uranium Project

Approval for Okapi’s Notice of Intent to Conduct Prospecting at Tallahassee will allow for up to 18,200m of drilling in up to 60 holes.

Drilling will be applied to exploration, hydrological testing, and geotechnical investigations to further the development of the Taylor-Boyer Prospect to a mining decision.

The permit is up to December 31 2027 with the next steps for Okapi (ASX:OKR) involving an additional NoI from the DRMS to cover the recently acquired 51% ownership in the Hansen and Picnic Tree deposits, as well as obtaining conditional use permits (CUPs) from Fremont County, Colorado before drilling commences.

District known for ‘significant’ uranium resources

“This is another important milestone for Okapi, as the company continues to progress and advance its uranium projects in North America,” Okapi managing director Andrew Ferrier said.

“Obtaining the initial permit to drill provides the opportunity to move forward with exploration and development work in a district known to contain significant uranium resources.”

OKR’s permit for the larger Tallahassee project covers the Taylor-Boyer deposits across 7,500 acres and includes large portions which are still considered to be untested or poorly tested by drilling.

Further work ahead

Further work is needed to fully define the boundaries of the prospective mineralised channel or channels, but the company believes there is scope to expand on the existing JORC resource estimate through further exploration.

Approval from DMRS will include prospecting activities such as drilling work carried out on lands where both the surface and mineral rights are privately owned.

Importantly, Okapi has already obtained a private land access agreement with the surface landowners at Taylor Ranch and Boyer Ranch, allowing access for the permitted drilling activities.

Mineralisation and geology

The uranium deposits in the Tallahassee District are tabular deposits associated with redox interfaces.

All three deposits – Noah, Northwest Taylor and Boyer are hosted by the more favourable Echo Park sandstones, so mineralisation is generally thick and laterally continuous, and commonly comprises high-grade mineralisation within broader, lower-grade envelopes.

This article was developed in collaboration with Okapi 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.