Okapi Resources Ltd (ASX:OKR)'s initial surface exploration program at its Rattler Project in the La Sal mining district in Utah has uncovered “exceptional” uranium mineralisation.
A total of 28 rock samples were collected from the Rattlesnake and Sunnyside prospects in December last year, aimed at determining the nature of surface-accessible uranium mineralisation.
Rock samples from surface
Samples came from the mineralised sedimentary horizon in the old Rattlesnake mine open pit as well as from outcrop and dumps outside the entrances to old mine workings.
They also include rock samples collected from outcrops and the mine dumps in the Sunnyside claim block around the now abandoned Sunnyside mine.
Of the samples collected, 15 reported values greater than 1,000 parts per million (ppm) uranium oxide.
Rattlesnake rock samples returned values up to 1.24% uranium oxide (12,400 ppm), while Sunnyside rock samples returned values up to 0.759% uranium oxide (7,590 ppm).
Upward trend for uranium
Okapi Resources managing director Andrew Ferrier said the company was now seeking to test Rattler’s ‘exciting potential’.
“The results of the initial surface exploration program confirmed the high-grade nature of the uranium mineralisation at the company’s Rattler Uranium Project with numerous assays across both Rattlesnake and Sunnyside showing exceptional high-grade uranium.
“The company has already submitted an application to drill at Rattler and is keen to follow up these excellent results with drilling in the near future.
“We continue to believe that the uranium space is in an upward trend and Okapi is currently assembling and developing the right portfolio of assets to create value for shareholders.”
The results indicate that the Rattler Project is potentially amenable to conventional open-pit mining, and the company has now applied for a permit to drill across the project.
Historic mining district
The Rattler Project, ranging over around 1,960 acres, is located in San Jan County in eastern Utah, about 5 kilometres west of the town of La Sal and 40 kilometres southeast of Moab, Utah.
The historic La Sal Mining district hosts a number of mines in-care-and-maintenance as well as numerous abandoned mines. The project is also about 85 kilometres north of Energy Fuels Inc’s White Mesa Uranium/Vanadium mill in Utah – the only operating conventional uranium mill in the US.
The project area includes the historical Rattlesnake open pit mine, which was discovered around 1948 and operated until about 1954.
Historic production from the Rattlesnake pit reportedly totalled 285,000 tonnes of ore at 2,800 ppm U3O8 and 10,000 ppm V2O5 for 1.6 million pounds of U3O8 and 4.5 million pounds of V2O5.
The entire La Sal Mining District up to 1991 produced around 6.4 million pounds uranium oxide at an average grade of 3,200 ppm uranium oxide and around 29 million pounds vanadium oxide at an average grade of 14,600 ppm vanadium oxide.