GTI Energy Ltd (ASX:GTR) has all the necessary permits and bonds in place to kickstart drilling at its Great Divide Basin in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium project in Wyoming.
The US-focused uranium explorer plans to return to the soil at Great Divide as part of a 100,000-foot follow up exploration program, designed to target extensions to previously uncovered uranium occurrences.
With the key approvals in hand, GTI plans to land a drill rig on site in September to drill structures known as roll fronts for ISR-amenable uranium.
The extensive program will include around 40,000 feet of drilling at the Thor target, as well as roughly 60,000 feet of drilling across the Odin, Teebo, Loki and Wicket uranium prospects.
The program should wrap up by Christmas, giving GTI plenty of assay fodder as it plans its next steps at the 35,000-acre project.
Excited to return to the soil
Commenting on the development today, GTI executive director Bruce Lane said: “The permit and bond are now in place for the first stage of our follow-up drilling campaign in the Great Divide Basin.
“We expect a drill rig to be on-site in September. The drilling is sequenced, across the five project areas, to deliver the full 100,000-foot program prior to Christmas.
“We are excited at the prospect of starting drilling again and we look forward to providing further updates in due course.”
Program overview
Thor
Thor is the most advanced of the Great Divide Basin’s project areas. It sits next to Ur-Energy Inc’s 18-million-pound Lost Creek uranium deposit and operating processing plant.
Exploration to date has successfully identified mineralisation with economic potential based on the reported widths, grades and depth.
As such, the upcoming program is planned, permitted and bonded to drill up to 70 new holes, targeting extensions along 2 miles of mineralised roll front identified during earlier drilling this year.
The new drilling will focus on the project’s northeast, including the two Wyoming state leases located northeast of the lode claim block, which GTI has previously explored.
Wicket East
Wicket East abuts the southern boundary of Ur-Energy’s Lost Soldier deposit.
Here, GTI plans to drill as many as 20 holes to explore a projected mineralised trend that extends from the southern boundary of URE’s Lost Soldier property.
This trend is thought to extend for roughly 3 miles, as defined by historical drilling information, similar in nature to that used to plan the maiden drilling program at Thor.
Odin, Loki and Teebo
The Great Divide project’s Odin and Teebo prospects are next to Uranium Energy Corp’s (UEC) Antelope Project, while the Loki claims sit south of UEC’s Antelope and north of URE’s Lost Creek.
GTI hopes to drill up to 40 holes across these prospects as it targets mineralised trends over a combined 5 miles.