Alligator Energy Ltd (ASX:AGE) is making good progress in its exploration efforts at the Nabarlek North Project in the Alligator Rivers Uranium Province (ARUP) of the Northern Territory.
The company recently established a mobile camp to support the 2023 geophysics and drilling programs, marking a crucial milestone for the project.
On-ground initiation
Alligator CEO Greg Hall said: “After a well-co-ordinated planning phase it is pleasing to see the on-ground initiation of the 2023 work program on the Nabarlek North Project.
“Our aim is to refine and expand the geological model developed in 2022/early 23 including a specific focus on a number of prospective target areas.
“In 2022 we were able to confirm that the Cahill Formation, which hosts most of the economic orebodies in the ARUP is widely present across our project area.
“A key aspect of work this year is to better identify and chart the structures capable of ‘plumbing’ a uranium mineralisation system, leading to solid targets for deeper drilling.”
Key highlights of the 2023 field season activities include target investigation, the kick-off of an induced polarisation (IP) survey and geochemical sampling.
Target (NYSE:TGT) investigation: Building upon the findings from 2022, Alligator Energy plans to use various techniques such as regional aircore drilling, auger soil sampling and ground Induced Polarisation (IP) surveys to investigate potential targets.
IP survey commencement: An IP survey, covering up to 15 square kilometres, has started on the southern section of the tenement package. The primary objective is to map chargeability and subtle conductive structures in the area north of DevEx Resources' high-grade U40 Prospect.
Geochemical sampling: After the completion of the IP survey, geochemical sampling using RAB/aircore and shallow auger drilling will take place. This sampling will involve a multi-element analysis of the thick clayey saprolite beneath the Nabarlek North cover.
Under-explored region
The analysis aims to determine the underlying geology and identify potentially economically valuable minerals, including rare earth elements (REEs).
The Nabarlek North Project is in an under-explored region within the ARUP, conveniently only 7 kilometres north of the historic Nabarlek uranium mine, which produced 24 million pounds of U3O8 at an average grade of 1.84%.
The U40 prospect, 200 metres south of Alligator's southern tenement boundary, has historically reported high-grade occurrences of up to 6.3 metres at 7.23% U3O8, further highlighting the prospect's significance.