AuKing Mining Ltd (ASX:AKN) (AuKing Mining Ltd (ASX:AKN)) has launched a drilling and exploration campaign at its Manyoni Uranium Project in Tanzania.
Over a period of two to three months, the company intends to carry out 4,400 metres of auger, aircore and diamond drilling, backed by a budget of $700,000.
Chief among the aims of the program is resource expansion. The most recent mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Manyoni was released in 2010, when the project was owned by Uranex (ASX:UNX), now Magnis Energy Technologies.
It was based on more than 25,000 metres of drilling and, using a cut-off grade of 100 parts per million (ppm), measured 92 million tonnes, representing 29 million pounds of triuranium oxide.
Expansion potential
More recently, AuKing engaged H&S Consultants to review historic drilling work, and which noted the potential to “significantly increase” the existing Mayoni resource to include areas that remain largely underexplored.
Since Mayoni is classified by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a surficial deposit, very little drilling has extended beyond a depth of 15 metres — the deepest currently being 45 metres. As a result, a number of key zones have yet to be fully tested.
In addition to resource expansion, AuKing will use the program to validate earlier drilling results, clarify previous metallurgical work and provide a platform for a fast-track pathway to development.
“The drilling program at Manyoni is intended to provide the basis for an updated resource estimate and thereby set the platform for development activities at this project,” AuKing chief executive Paul Williams said.
“We will include some drill holes at the nearby Itigi project area where a major (40-kilometre by 10-kilometre) radiometric anomaly was identified but not subjected to drilling.”
Itigi
The Itigi anomaly lies roughly 50 kilometres west of Manyoni and was previously described by Uranex as “the most intensive and extensive radiometric anomaly identified by Uranex during its years of exploration in the Manyoni and Bahi region”.
A number of high-priority targets were identified at Itigi but, due to Uranex’s focus on other activities at the time, were not pursued.
AuKing holds three licence applications in the Itigi area and is now looking to secure a licence covering the main portion of the anomaly. Assuming such a licence is granted, AuKing intends to include the Uranex targets in the upcoming campaign.
- By Oliver Gray