PROJECTS

Overview
To manage risk and optimize potential for success UraniumSA operates only within the single regulatory regime of South Australia and explores within the Gawler Craton geological province. The Company exploration focus is entirely on uranium, particularly sediment hosted styles.

The UraniumSA exploration approach is to build conceptual models of mineralization from publicly available information to support purpose-designed surveys, and then systematically test the resulting mineralisation models and identified targets. As it operates is own drill plant and logging equipment the Company is able to schedule its work, ensuring continuous drill testing of targets and maintaining the quality of work and results.

In its first year, UraniumSA has demonstrated that it is a technically proficient and cost effective explorer, able to deliver continuous results and discover uranium mineralization.

UraniumSA has real exploration and development upside as a result of the Mullaquana discovery. The Company has a clearly stated and credible strategy to optimize its opportunity for exploration successes while minimizing regulatory and sovereign risk by confining its activities to South Australia.

  

Tenure holding
The Company has exploration rights through wholly owned tenure and Joint Venture to some 7,600 km2 located across the Gawler Craton of South Australia. Its operations are geographically focused on the;

  
 
  • Kingoonya Palaeodrainage System, with tenements extending over 200km from Kingoonya township in the east to Tarcoola in the west. There are three project areas;

    1. Tarcoola, a 70:30 Joint Venture with Stellar Resources Limited (SRZ). Contains the Peela Swamp uranium prospect (carnotite in silcrete and lake sediments) and is prospective for Warrior style sediment-hosted deposits.

    2. Kingoonya, a composite of a 70:30 Joint Venture with Marathon Resources Limited (MTN) and a wholly owned tenement. Contains the Blackoak Bore prospect (up to 60ppm uranium by assay of aircore holes drilled by USA to validate interpretation of its airborne electromagnetic survey data (AEM)) and is considered to be prospective for Warrior and Oban style sediment-hosted uranium deposits.

    3. Muckanippie, a wholly owned tenement which contains the Bradman Outstation prospects in a newly identified palaeodrainage (up to 60ppm uranium by assay of aircore holes drilled by USA to validate interpretation of its AEM data). This newly recognised area is regarded as prospective for Warrior style sediment-hosted uranium deposits. Also, the tenement covers the Muckanippie Anorthosite Complex which is prospective for copper-nickel-PGE deposits – good quality bedrock conductors were located during the AEM surveying of the palaeodrainage system.
 
 
  • Eastern Eyre Peninsula, with tenements extending over 200km from Tumby Bay in the south to Whyalla in the north. There are three project areas;

    1. Mullaquana, near Whyalla, is a wholly owned tenement and the location of a new discovery of sediment-hosted uranium. Joint Ventures are being negotiated with Australasia Gold Limited (AAO), Rex Minerals Limited (RXM) and SRZ over extensions of the host sequence of the Mullaquana discovery. The tenement is also prospective for IOCG mineralisation within the uranium-rich granites below the sediment-hosted discovery.

    2. Cleve, a wholly owned tenement that contains the Boothby hard rock prospect, an unconformity style uranium play. A JV of the iron ore and manganese rights is being considered.

    3. Tumby Bay, north of Port Lincoln, a wholly owned tenement. Limited aircore reconnaissance drilling has returned anomalous uranium and alteration indicative of "Hospital" prospect style high-grade mineralisation.
 
 
UraniumSA projects map

  
 
Sediment-hosted uranium deposits
In-situ leach (ISL) of sandstone uranium deposits constitute about 26% of world uranium production (United States, Niger and Kazakhstan). Deposits suitable for ISL occur below the water table in permeable sand or sandstones, confined above and below by impermeable strata. They may be either flat, or "roll front" (C-shaped in cross section) deposits within a permeable sedimentary layer. Techniques for ISL have evolved to the point where it is a controllable, safe, and environmentally benign method of mining with relatively low capital costs. The operations are subject to strict operational and regulatory controls.

Sediment-hosted uranium in South Australia
The key criteria of the sediment-hosted uranium models - uranium-rich source rocks, oxidising groundwater and a suitably porous and reduced sediment host - occur across large areas of the South Australian Curnamona Province and Gawler Craton. Sediment-hosted uranium deposits within these areas include the Beverley deposit (Heathgate Resources, >1,000 tpa yellowcake), Four Mile prospect (adjacent to Beverly), Honeymoon deposit (SRX-UraniumOne, ~targeting 290 tpa yellowcake) and Oban prospect (Curnamona Energy, targeting a field leach trial, ~100 tpa yellowcake) within the Curnamona Province, and the Warrior prospect (Toro Energy/Stellar Resources JV) on the Gawler Craton. All these uranium occurrences are in Eocene to Miocene sediments characterised by high organic content.

  
 


 
 

The recognized prospective terrains for sediment-hosted uranium in South Australia are shown in the adjacent map (from “Cainozioc palaeochannel hosted uranium and current exploration methods, South Australia” MESA Journal 46, September 2007). Despite having all of the prerequisites for sediment-hosted uranium mineralisation, the Eocene-Miocene Kanaka Bed sequences of the Pirie Basin, which extend for a significant distance south of Port Augusta, are not recorded as prospective.

Recent exploration of the Kanaka Beds by UraniumSA south of Whyalla has discovered extensive uranium mineralisation, and outlined areas above the 0.05 m%eU3O8 contour which have the potential to contain economically significant mineralisation.

Mullaquana is a new discovery of sediment-hosted uranium mineralisation in a previously unrecognised area. UraniumSA has first-mover status and has negotiated effective exploration control of all of the potential ground through Joint Venture.