Henkries Project Update

RNS Number : 3127J

Niger Uranium Limited

02 December 2008

 



For immediate release                                                                                              2 December 2008

Niger Uranium Limited 
('Niger Uranium' or the 'Company')

Henkries Project Update

The Board of Niger Uranium announces that fieldwork is underway at the Henkries Project in South Africa. The objective of the work programme is to define resources in preparation for a Pre-Feasibility Study scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2009.

• 500 metres of core drilling at 'Henkries Central' will commence mid-January 2009 to verify the resource defined by Anglo Operations Limited (AOL) as part of its feasibility study completed in 1979. 

• The Henkries Central deposit was estimated by AOL to contain a 'diluted reserve' (a historical, non-SAMREC compliant term) of 4.18 Million tonnes with an average grade of 405 parts per million (ppm) U3O8 containing 3.72 Million lbs U3O8 at a cut-off grade of 100 ppm U3O8. 

• Following the verification drilling, a 4,500 metre drilling programme will commence north of Henkries Central, in an area previously defined as containing significant mineralization.

• Niger Uranium has a total project exploration target of 10 Million lbs U3O8 at Henkries, hosted within near surface (less than 15 metres depth) soft sediments that will not require blasting. 

Drilling Plan

The Company plans 500 metres of core drilling along 3 lines across the deposit at 'Henkries Central' to commence in mid-January 2009. The objective of the initial core drilling will be to verify the non-Code compliant resource defined by Anglo Operations Limited ('AOL') as part of its feasibility study completed in 1979. At that time, AOL estimated that the Henkries Central deposit contained a 'diluted reserve' (an historical, non-SAMREC compliant term) of 4.18 Million tonnes with an average grade of 405 ppm U3O8, containing 3.72 Million lbs U3O8, at a cut-off grade of 100 ppm U3O8. The Company has access to 7,500 metres of closely spaced historical drilling data generated by AOL during the 1970s. The average depth to the base of this mineralisation was estimated by AOL at 10 metres and an average strip ratio of 2.35:1 was previously calculated. Assuming the new data verifies the historic grades and thicknesses, the Company plans to release a SAMREC-compliant resource statement for the Henkries Central area by the end of March 2009.

Following the verification drilling described above, a 4,500 metre drilling programme is planned for the Henkries North exploration target. This 4,000 by 1,000 metre area is located immediately north of Henkries Central and was identified and drilled too late to be included in AOL's 1979 'diluted reserve' statement; despite indications of significant and shallow mineralisation. The historical drilling in this area includes 51 boreholes on an irregularly spaced grid, with reported assay grades ranging from 'no significant intersection' to 8.5 metres grading 802 ppm U3O8. 

Subject to satisfactory completion of this drilling programme, the Board hopes to commence the preparation of a Pre-Feasibility study during the second quarter of 2009.

Following the completion of drilling at Henkries Central and North, the Company plans to test additional targets along the 30 kilometre south-eastward extension of the Koa River palaeochannel, where the Company plans to carry out geochemical and geophysical exploration during the first quarter of 2009.

Based upon a review of optimal drilling methods, the Company has decided to use the sonic drilling technique, which allows the recovery of core samples from soft sediments such as those hosting the Henkries deposit.

Share Purchase Agreement and Section 11 transfer

As previously announced in September 2008, Niger Uranium signed a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of 100 per cent of URU Henkries Limited from Aardvark Uranium Limited. On completion of the acquisition Niger Uranium will have a 74 percent interest in Namakwa Uranium (Proprietary) Limited, the holding company of the prospecting right PR 885/2007 which includes the Henkries uranium project. The remaining 26 percent of Namakwa Uranium will continue to be held by BEE partner, Gilstra Exploration cc.

An application was submitted to the Department of Minerals and Energy on 31 October 2008 for the approval of the transfer to URU Henkries, of the Namakwa shareholding as required by Section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA). In the meanwhile, Niger Uranium will implement the field programme on behalf of Namakwa Uranium.

Ian Stalker, Executive Chairman, said:

'The project has several factors that set it apart from other near-term uranium projects; we have a detailed historic feasibility study as a basis; grades are excellent for near-surface ore that will require no blasting; AOL conservatively estimated uranium recovery of 85%; and the project is served by excellent infrastructure that can be easily upgraded.

The start of the field programme is the first step in advancing the Henkries project towards potential production and we look forward to updating shareholders in due course as this project is implemented.'

Statement from MSA Geoservices, Competent Person for Niger Uranium

Mr Richard Wadley (Pr.Sci.Nat), Principal Consultant at MSA Geoservices, is the qualified person responsible for Niger Uranium and has supervised Mr Mike Venter (Pr.Sci.Nat), Regional Consulting Geologist at MSA Geoservices, who verified the data reported above. We consider that the extent and style of drilling proposed for implementation by Niger Uranium on the Henkries Central and Henkries North deposits, taken together with available historical data, should be sufficient to define an indicated/inferred resource compliant with the requirements of the SAMREC code. The size of this resource will determine whether work should proceed to the next step, which is expected to be a pre-feasibility study. MSA Geoservices is a consultant to Niger Uranium, with no interest in the company and has consented to the inclusion in this announcement of its name in the form and context in which it appears. Exploration data is acquired by Niger Uranium using best practice quality assurance and quality control protocols. 

Contacts:

Niger Uranium Limited

Ian Stalker, Executive Chairman    Tel: [phone]

Beaumont Cornish Limited         Tel: [phone]

Michael Cornish

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release contains statements that are 'forward-looking'. Generally, the words 'expect,' 'intend,' 'estimate,' 'will' and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or that of our industry, to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any of our forward-looking statements. Statements in this press release regarding the Company's business or proposed business, which are not historical facts, are 'forward looking' statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

Glossary of Terms:

Blasting	A mining practice using explosives to fragment rock for the purposes of removal.
Lbs	Pounds, an imperial unit of mass: 1 lb is equal to 0.454 kilograms.
Palaeochannel	A remnant of a stream channel cut in older rock and filled by the sediments of younger overlying rock.
ppm	Parts per million, equal to gram per tonne. 1 ppm = 1 gram per tonne.
Pre-feasibility study	An assessment of the economic viability of a potential mining project to a reasonable to high level of confidence, normally preceding a Definitive Feasibility Study.  The study must consider all aspects of the project, including mine and processing plant design, waste disposal, environmental management and permitting.
Recovery	In this case meaning metallurgical recovery which is the proportion of the uranium that can be extracted by metallurgical processing of the ore, expressed as a percentage.
Resource	The term 'Mineral Resource' covers the in-situ mineralisation which has been identified and estimated through exploration/assessment and sampling; and from which Mineral Reserves may be derived by the application of technical, economic, legal, environmental, social, marketing, governmental and political factors.
SAMREC	South Africa's internationally accepted code for the reporting of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves as prepared by the SAMREC committee under the auspices of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Historical estimates may be accurate but until verified under the current code, are termed non-code compliant or non-compliant.
Sonic Drilling	A drilling method that utilises high frequency mechanical vibrations to advance through unconsolidated material and enable the collection of continuous core samples.
U3O8	Triuranium octaoxide. 1 ppm U308 = 0.848 ppm U.

 

END

 

 

MSCTBBFTMMBMBLP