Shares in Forte Energy NL (ASX, AIM: FTE) rose in London trade after the uranium and copper explorer announced encouraging assay results from its Bir En Nar and Bir Moghrein projects in Mauritania, West Africa. The share was trading up more than 16 percent in late morning deals at around 10.25 pence a share.

The properties are subject to a cooperation agreement with the France-based multinational  industrial and nuclear energy company Areva NC, formerly Cogema.

It has received results from trenching and grab samples at five uranium anomalies, including 9,300 parts per million triuranium octoxide from a trench and two grab samples with 4,850 ppm and 4,500 ppm U3O8. Four priority targets are now at drill-ready stage, with approximately 2,000 metres short-hole reverse circulation drilling program at Bir Moghrein set to commence this quarter and be completed by the end of 2009.

These recent activities confirm that the Forte Energy licence portfolio lies within a very significant bedrock uranium province, the group said.

The 6,000 metres diamond drilling programme at the Bir En Nar prospect aimed at delineating an initial JORC compliant uranium resource, is currently underway. Forte expects that the additional results from the programme will enable an initial JORC-code compliant uranium resource to be established for Bir En Nar around the end of this year.

Forte Energy has also decided to carry out new radiometric airborne surveys over selected areas on licences in Mauritania.  Previous airborne surveys during the mid 1990s were carried out along E-W lines with 500 metres line spacing and at an altitude of 100 metres. The surveys will begin in late November this year, and measurements will be carried out along lines  with  200  metre  spacing  and  at  an altitude of 60 metres.

In a separate quarterly update for the three months to end-September 2009, the company said encouraging metallurgical test results from the Firawa uranium project in Guinea indicate  potential for economic recovery from leaching.  It is preparing plans for further drilling and testwork to advance pre-feasibility work on a possible uranium leaching extraction operation for Firawa.

Firawa currently has a JORC compliant resource estimate of 17.7 million tonnes at 296 part per million triuranium octoxide for 11.6 million pounds of contained U308 at a 100 ppm cut-off.

Matrix Corporate Capital issued a note on Forte Energy following the latest announcements. It expects the Firawa resource to be increased in the short term and views it as a 20 million lbs project now with upside next year. It applies a US$5/lb valuation to arrive at its short-term price target of 12.7pence per share.

The drilling program about to start at the Mauritania project is designed to define another JORC resource, and Matrix see potential for the company to have 40 million lbs of resource by the year’s end, “in which case a 24p per share target could be justified.”

“The recent lull in the share price was perhaps our last buying opportunity for a while and we would expect interest in the stock to increase toward expectation of the Mauritania resource around the end of the year,“ the broker said.

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