Alligator Energy Ltd (ASX:AGE, OTC:ALGEF) is picking up the pace at the Samphire Uranium Project, south of Whyalla in South Australia, with a new round of resource extension drilling underway at the Blackbush Deposit.
After a short break due to the lambing season, the new drilling will initially focus on investigating encouraging results intersected in the first round of drilling earlier this year at the Blackbush Extensions 1 and Blackbush Extension 2 areas.
The program will also assess expansion potential within the project area targeting historical gamma intercepts within the Blackbush North and Blackbush North-eastern palaeochannels.
Follow-up previous results
Results from the earlier first-round drilling include:
Blackbush Extensions 1 -
- 4.44 metres at 0.43% (4,370ppm) pU3O8 from 61.38 metres; and
- 1.47 metres at 0.40% (3,992ppm) pU3O8 from 60.68 metres.
Blackbush Extension 2 -
- 3.07 metres at 0.05% (493ppm) pU3O8 from 58.47 metres; and
- 1.32 metres at 0.10% (978ppm) pU3O8 from 56.10 metres.
Toward resource update
Alligator’s managing director and CEO Greg Hall said: “Alligator is planning near-continuous Blackbush deposit resource extension drilling through this year, with a target to increase the resource and hence the potential annual production rate in a future feasibility study.
"We have worked closely with the local pastoralist to ensure that our operations do not impact their important lambing season.
"Drilling and logging results will feed into a further update to the Blackbush resource estimate at year-end.”
Map highlighting some of the encouraging intercepts discovered in the first round drilling at Blackbush. Target areas to be drill tested in the coming months are also highlighted.
First-round drilling confirmed the presence of roll fronts and redox fronts extending out from the known Blackbush mineralisation.
Focused exploration
The new work is part of a focused exploration approach to extend the existing mineralisation envelope and identify the broader existence of uranium mineralisation.
Drilling will also be carried out in the Blackbush north and Northeastern palaeochannel areas to investigate anomalous historical gamma intercepts, and to confirm the presence of prospective palaeochannels interpreted from ground gravity data.
Increase in drilling rate
Alligator is evaluating an increase to the drilling rate, up to the capacity of the down hole logging equipment, in the second half of 2024 in order to increase the drilling coverage given the vast area of interpreted palaeochannels that exist in the Samphire Project area.
This would then lead into the drilling of the required production wells following the approval of a Retention Lease and operating plan (PEPR) for the Field Recovery Trial.
The company anticipates that drilling over the next six months will then lead to an update of the Blackbush mineral resource estimate in the fourth quarter of 2024.