GTI Energy Ltd (ASX:GTR) has completed 70 holes, with two mud rotary drill rigs for 34,010-feet (10,366 m), of its planned ~100,000-foot Uranium exploration drill programme in Wyoming’s Great Divide Basin in the USA.
The Thor prospect is located adjacent to Ur-Energy Inc’s (URE) 18Mlb Lost Creek deposit and operating ISR uranium processing plant. Exploration at Thor previously identified mineralisation with economic potential based on widths, grades and depth of mineralisation.
An initial 100-hole (~50,000 ft) drilling campaign was completed at Thor between November 2021 and March 2022. As part of GTI’s 2022 100,000- foot drill programme, a 70-hole follow-up campaign was planned to target extents of approximately two miles of mineralised uranium roll fronts at the Thor Project.
Seventy holes have been completed at Thor, marking the end of the follow-up drilling program. Drilling was focused in the north-east of Thor, including fresh ground at State Section 29 and 20 leases.
Typical economically viable ISR grade and GT cut-offs are: 0.02% (200ppm) U3O8 and 0.2GT i.e., 10 ft (3 m) @ .02% (200ppm) U3O8. Initial results are observed as follows:
* 35 of 70 holes met both grade and GT cutoff with an average of 0.65 GT
* 23 of the remaining holes met grade cutoff but not GT, 8 had trace mineral and four were barren
“This round of drilling at Thor has confirmed our belief that the project has significant potential to deliver a viable ISR uranium resource,” Executive Director, Bruce Lane, said.
“Results have both met and exceeded our expectation, especially given the new and strongly mineralised trend encountered within our Section 29 state lease. The mineralisation identified shows real potential for ISR development and we are now well positioned to deliver a maiden resource estimate report on the Thor project in Q1 of next year.
“I look forward to continued exploration success at the Odin, Wicket East, Teebo and Loki prospects over the coming weeks leading up to Christmas.”
Mr Lane said these results are very encouraging, with mineralisation encountered meeting expectations for potentially economic ISR uranium recovery. Drilling to date has confirmed that the historic data is an excellent guide for drilling.
Drilling has also shown that the geological and hydrogeological setting of the mineralisation appears to be conducive to ISR recovery with the main host sand appearing to be continuous in the area and the water table being over 100 feet above the main host sand. Drilling increased confidence that at least three separate roll fronts are present in the main host sand with additional sands positioned above and below the main sand unit. Drilling in the northern parts of Thor and the Section 29 state lease shows that the lower sands host roll front mineralisation within the claims.
Continued drilling at the Thor State Lease property (Section 29) has encountered mineralisation in the southern portion of the lease properties. Fourteen drill holes encountered mineralisation above the 0.2 GT target, with the best hole (BR-2041) hitting a total hole GT of 2.55. Correlation of mineralised zones between the holes resulted in two projected mineralisation trends of circa 830 feet in upper and lower sand complexes for a total of 1,667 feet of mineralised roll fronts.
The northern half of section 31 delivered encouraging results from both the upper and lower sand units. Hole BR-2026 contained an interval of 18.5-foot thick 0.087% eU3O8 average grade (GT 1.61) in a lower sand unit.
Nearby hole BR-2038 contained a 19.5-foot interval of 0.052% eU3O8 average grade (GT 1.01) in an upper sand unit. 1,866 feet of trend was interpreted and projected in the upper sands while the lower sand brought 1,201 feet of projected trend length.
The additional projected trend length interpreted during the 70-hole programme totalled 7,974 feet, increasing last year’s discovery of 17,640 feet to 25,614 feet of mineralised trend. Once additional interpretation of this data is completed, new exploration target areas are anticipated.
For further information please visit: https://www.gtienergy.au
