Core Exploration (ASX:CXO) has received notification from the Northern Territory Government that Core is the successful applicant for a tenement over the Napperby Uranium Deposit.
The company’s shares were last trading 9% higher intra-day, at $0.096.
The Napperby tenement area was the subject of an internationally competitive tender process with Core adjudged to have the best financial and technical resources available to advance the project.
The Napperby Uranium Deposit has a JORC 2004 inferred resource of 9.34 million tonnes at 359 ppm uranium for 7.39 million pounds of contained uranium.
Interestingly, only half of the area of the mineralised uranium zone was drilled and converted to an inferred resource by Toro Energy (ASX:TOE).
Consequently, there remains potential to substantially expand and increase the size of the Napperby deposit.
Core has gained access to a scoping study prepared by Toro in 2009 which also includes metallurgical testwork studies on bulk representative samples.
The company will also inherit project data that includes auger, sonic core and aircore drill hole data, electromagnetics and other data.
The resource at Napperby adds substantial size to Core’s existing uranium project portfolio, which includes:
- Fitton Project, South Australia: Core’s exploration and drilling has led to the discovery of a thick high grade intersection of 60 metres at 487 ppm uranium;
- Yambla Project, Northern Territory: Core’s uranium tenure at the project includes significant uranium grades recorded in historic trench sampling and at surface.
The addition of the Uranium Deposit at Napperby is particularly significant in the context of increasing uranium prices.
It is worth noting that the spot uranium price has increased close to 40% over recent months.
Core has a cash balance of $8.3 million as at 31 December 2016.