PNX goes to top of grade class for Aussie uranium miners

Special Report: Latest data on uranium intercepts show PNX Metals is the Australian high grade champion by a Top End country mile.

March Quarter data compiled by MinerDeck puts PNX No. 4 on its list of top intercepts for Q1 2024. PNX Metals (ASX:PNX) comes in below three companies that are all drilling in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, but is a long way ahead of other Aussie explorers.

The MinerDeck mention highlights the high-grade resource growth potential of PNX’s Thunderball deposit in one of the world’s most prolific uranium provinces, the Northern Territory’s Pine Creek region.

Thunderball’s potential was underscored by exciting results from PNX’s review of historical, previously unreported drilling announced in February. Among the results was an intersection of 15m at 1.35% U3O8 from 210m, which included 1.5m at 10.2% U3O8 from 215m.

U3O8 is the formula for triuranium octoxide, a compound of uranium that is shipped between mills and refineries.

Historical data, future potential

During the large-scale review, PNX identified eight drill holes from 2014 which had not previously been released or included in the historical Thunderball resource estimate.

The results released in February also highlighted a number of high-priority, near-surface targets that require more testing.

The Pine Creek region is home to the Alligator River, Rum Jungle and South Alligator Valley uranium fields, and PNX is now looking forward to this year’s field season based on its new insights.

“The review results have injected added excitement into our planning for this year,” PNX executive chairman Graham Ascough said.

“They demonstrate the potential for high grade domains in the upper and lower lodes at Thunderball, and new near-surface regional discoveries.”

Late last year, the uranium rights over a substantial portion of its Pine Creek tenure were returned to PNX after the expiration of a 10-year third-party agreement with private company Oz Uranium.

It was Oz Uranium that completed the eight drill holes not publicly reported at the time.

Eyes on gold, precious metals too

Around the same time Oz Uranium also drilled a single hole at the Goldeneye prospect, 4km southwest of Thunderball, which also yielded potentially economic grades of uranium as well as precious metals.

Top intercepts measured 1.5m at 94.7ppm uranium and 2.36 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, platinum and palladium from 34m, and 4m at 1.94g/t gold, platinum and palladium from 37m.

About PNX

PNX holds significant mineral resources containing 0.5 Moz gold, 16.2 Moz silver and 177,000 tonnes of zinc at its 100% owned Hayes Creek zinc-gold-silver, and Fountain Head gold projects. These are adjacent to the Thunderball uranium deposit and several nearby uranium prospects in the Pine Creek region.

In addition to exploring for uranium, PNX has been progressing development studies at Fountain Head and in 2023 received environmental approvals, with mining approvals expected to be granted imminently.

PNX attracted the advances of Western Australia-based Kin Mining, which tabled an unsolicited, non-binding, indicative merger proposal for the company. PNX has said the talks were ongoing and remained incomplete, and that there was no certainty that a merger or any transaction would eventuate.

This article was developed in collaboration with PNX Metals, 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.