As GTI Energy Ltd (ASX:GTR) progresses the interpretation of historical drilling data, greater attention is being paid to the delivery of an initial inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) this quarter for the Lo Herma Uranium Project in Wyoming, USA.
The historical data package was acquired in March this year and includes logs for 1,445 drill holes - roughly seven times the number of holes drilled by GTI at Lo Herma to date.
Resource estimation
These logs indicate sandstone-hosted uranium mineralisation with economic potential and GTI believes this data may be sufficient to report a resource estimate by the end of this quarter, without the need for additional drilling.
So far, the historical drill holes have been scanned and georeferenced, and drill hole collar locations have been compiled into a drill hole location database.
As announced in April, the data package has also been used to estimate an exploration target range - 7.3 to 9 million tonnes at a grade between 500 and 700 parts per million (ppm) uranium oxide, representing between 8.1 and 13.9 million pounds of contained uranium oxide.
Though the inferred resource estimate is on track to be prepared by the end of June, subject to the delivery of digitised log files in early May, GTI warns investors that a number of unknowns remain.
“The potential quantity and grade of the exploration target is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate,” the company said.
“It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a mineral resource in the defined exploration target areas.”
Nevertheless…
GTI is now taking steps to have a drilling program at Lo Herma permitted, which will include verification drilling of the historical data and targeted drilling of extensions to the existing areas of mineralisation.
Though this program may not be necessary for the formation of a resource estimate, it has the potential to increase the initial resource areas and improve the company’s confidence in the data it acquired.
Ground conditions permitting, fieldwork has also been planned to verify a number of collar locations included in the historical data.
Airborne geophysics is scheduled for May and permitting preparation is underway for drilling at Lo Herma during the second half of 2023.
- By Oliver Gray