GTI Energy Ltd (ASX:GTR, OTC:GTRIF) is set to begin the final phase of its 2024 drilling campaign at the Lo Herma Uranium Project in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin later this month, drilling and constructing three hydrogeologic and water monitoring wells.
Once completed, GTI will be in a position to update the mineral resource estimate (MRE) and exploration target for Lo Herma by year-end.
A decision will then be made on commencing a scoping study to demonstrate the economic potential of the project.
Green Mountain Project
At its Great Divide Basin Projects, the GTI technical team finalised the maiden drill plan at Green Mountain in February, selecting 16 drill holes for permitting.
This program is designed to test the validity of the historical Kerr McGee drill hole maps as well as the interpreted 12 miles (~19 kilometres) of mineralised regions as determined from an airborne geophysical survey completed in late 2023.
The surveys and drilling permit approval conditions have all been met and a reclamation bond amount has been determined by Wyoming’s DEQ and the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The company expects to make a final decision on the timing of drilling at Green Mountain “in due course”.
UEC acquires Rio Tinto’s assets
On GTI Energy's doorstep, the largest uranium company in the US — NYSE-listed Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) — is acquiring all of Rio Tinto's Wyoming assets for US$175 million.
This includes the Sweetwater uranium plant and a portfolio of mining projects in the Great Divide Basin and at Green Mountain.
UEC president and CEO Amir Adnani said that, with the acquisition, UEC was building on its transformative purchase of Uranium One Americas in 2021, which expanded its holdings in Wyoming’s Great Divide basin.
Adnani said, “We recognised early on that there are meaningful development synergies with the Rio Tinto assets, particularly the Sweetwater plant.”
UEC stated that the Rio acquisition will establish UEC’s third hub-and-spoke production platform — in addition to its Texas and Wyoming, Powder River Basin operations — and bolster UEC’s resources by some 175 million pounds, about half of which UEC considers to be amenable to in-situ recovery (ISR) mining.
GTI and UEC’s Great Divide Basin/Green Mountain projects.
UEC move welcomed
GTI Energy director & CEO Bruce Lane said: “We are excited that UEC has acquired these assets from Rio with a plan to build their third ‘hub-and-spoke’ ISR production centre at the Sweetwater mill site.
"We remain convinced that uranium resources in the Great Divide Basin and Green Mountain district have real potential to be developed in a similar fashion to those in Texas and the nearby Powder River Basin production district.
"UR Energy’s producing Lost Creek ISR plant and Shirley Basin ISR satellite mine development demonstrate the viability of ‘hub-and-spoke’ production strategies within the district.”