Rio Tinto (RIO) subsidiary ERA has further boosted reserves of uranium oxide at its Ranger 3 Deeps prospect in the Northern Territory.
In an update released yesterday, ERA said the upgrade in the size of the resource had followed completion of approximately 95% of a revised underground drilling programme at Ranger.
The company said the updated resource model estimate is now 12.2 million tonnes at 0.285% U3O8 (uranium oxide) equating to 34,761 tonnes of uranium oxide.
This compares to the previously reported estimate of 11.9 million tonnes at 0.274 % U3O8, 32,620 tonnes of contained uranium oxide.
ERA said the updated estimate "includes an upgrade of the Upper Mine Sequence component to 24,940 tonnes of contained uranium oxide, compared to the previously reported estimate of 22,148 tonnes of contained uranium oxide”.
The company says that a final mineral resource estimate is due to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014.
"Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) has completed approximately 95 per cent of a revised drilling program for Ranger 3 Deeps. The drilling programme has been optimised based on ore body knowledge and the requirements of the Prefeasibility Study, resulting in a reduction of total drilling from approximately 52,000 metres to approximately 47,000 metres. This update is reported as part of the Ranger 3 Deeps Prefeasibility Study, which is scheduled for completion by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014,” Ranger said in yesterday’s statement.
"ERA has now completed 219 underground drill holes for 46,104 metres of drilling with 10,718 samples submitted for geochemical analysis. In addition, all drill holes have been geophysically logged producing a downhole uranium equivalent grade.
"ERA has updated the mineral resource model and made appropriate adjustments to the mineral resource statement. These results should be read in conjunction with the JORC Code 2012 Edition – Table 1, outlined in the Appendix to this announcement.
“The updated estimate has increased the Upper Mine Sequence resource tonnage to 8.50 million tonnes with an increase in the overall grade to 0.293 %U3O8 equating to 24,940 tonnes of contained uranium oxide. This compares to the previously reported Upper Mine Sequence resource tonnage estimate of 8.47 million tonnes at 0.274 %U3O8 equating to 22,148 tonnes of contained uranium oxide.
"The Ranger 3 Deeps geological model has been updated with all underground drilling data acquired to date. All estimation domains including major faults and geological contacts have been re-interpreted and refined based on the latest drilling data.
"Important fault structures known to influence the distribution of grade within the deposit have been used to re-domain the high grade zones within the Upper Mine Sequence. This has resulted in a geologically improved definition of these zones, translating into incrementally higher tonnes and grade when compared to the previous resource estimate (at an equivalent cut-off grade of 0.15 %U3O8). There have been some minor updates to the Measured, Indicated and Inferred categories of the resource estimate when compared to the previous resource estimate.
"The final mineral resource estimate is scheduled to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, following the completion of the underground drilling programme in the third quarter of 2014. Pre-feasibility level mine plans are being developed in line with the updated resource model and will be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014. The Pre-feasibility Study is scheduled to be considered by the ERA Board in the first quarter of 2015,” Ranger said yesterday.
ERA shares fell 3c, or 0.2% to $1.31 yesterday.
