The identification of this target underscores the exceptional potential of the Eureka Project, which now includes a growing pipeline of REE targets alongside this newly recognized uranium opportunity. Review and field validation of government airborne radiometric data revealed extensive uranium anomalies situated off the southwestern margin of the Eureka Dome, which is host to the Company’s REE mineral resource and exploration targets. The government airborne radiometric data shows large-scale uranium anomalies 6.5 x 3.5 kilometres in extent with high uranium and low thorium – characteristic signature for Rössing-style targets (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Company license holding showing REE targets within the Eureka Dome, and high uranium anomalies outlined in red on uranium radiometric (government airborne radiometrics) backdrop. Insert: Thorium radiometric backdrop showing low thorium relative to the uranium anomalies.
The new uranium target at Eureka is situated along trend of Namibia’s “Alaskite Alley”, a structural corridor within Namibia’s Central Zone of the Damara Belt that hosts multiple giant uranium deposits hosted within leucogranites, including Rössing, Husab, Etango, Omaholo and Norasa (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Regional satellite view showing the position of the uranium anomalies southwest of the Eureka Dome, and their proximity to the Welwitschia Lineament and other large uranium deposits in Alaskite Alley.
The target exhibits all the key geological criteria consistent with the major uranium deposit models, including (Figure 3):
Figure 3: Comparison between the major uranium deposits in Alaskite Alley and the airborne uranium anomalies southwest of the Eureka Dome.
Field spectrometer prospecting conducted by the Company has confirmed the regional scale of the airborne radiometric uranium anomalies. The anomalies relate to widespread uranium mineralization occurring within thin overburden, which is best visible where drainages have incised a regionally occurring gypcrete/calcrete horizon with anomalous values ranging from 300 to 1,500 counts per second (“cps”) (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Photographs taken during reconnaissance field work and ground spectrometer survey within the anomalous areas.
The uranium mineralization within the overburden is potentially indicative of extensive uranium mineralization within the underlying leucogranites, supported by (Figure 5):
Figure 5: Mineralized leucogranite found during reconnaissance field work and the ground spectrometer survey.
Although the target is on trend with Namibia’s Alaskite Alley, its position farther north, together with the thin overburden and the presence of calc-silicates belonging to the Arandis rather than the Khan Formation, likely contributed to the lack of focused historical exploration. Despite the highly favorable geological setting, the target appears to remain largely untested.
Historical uranium exploration at Eureka—outside of the main Eureka Dome and then held under EPL 3637—was primarily directed toward near-surface secondary uranium (carnotite) mineralization hosted within calcrete and gypcrete horizons. While historical work confirmed the presence of leucogranites intruding calc-silicate rocks, these potential bedrock sources were evidently not systematically drill-tested at any depth.
The work completed in 2009 consisted mainly of shallow pitting and percussion drilling (<5 m depth) designed to evaluate surface uranium enrichment in the search for calcrete-hosted (paleochannel-type) uranium deposits such as Langer Heinrich, leaving the primary leucogranite targets effectively untested. Across the broader Eureka license area, historical work included 100 prospecting pits (to 1.8 m depth, averaging 1.3 m) and 139 rotary air-blast (RAB) drill holes totaling only 803 m (i.e. average depth of only 5.8 m). Visible carnotite mineralization was reported in several pits, with uranium values up to 192 ppm U₃O₈ over 1.18 m, confirming uranium enrichment within the overburden and weathered bedrock. Preliminary, non-NI 43-101-compliant historical estimates indicated approximately 600,000 lbs U₃O₈ at 70 ppm within the overburden gycretes and calcretes (see Technical Disclosure below in reference to this historical resource estimate).
Despite best efforts, the Company has been unable to locate additional drill data or records. The summary descriptions provided in the available report suggest that systematic testing of deeper bedrock targets was never completed. This provides a significant opportunity to evaluate the potential for Rössing-style, leucogranite-hosted uranium mineralization beneath the thin overburden.
Given the apparent shallow nature of the historical drilling, any testing of the underlying leucogranite units would have been very limited or non-existent, with exploration evidently focused on surface and near-surface mineralization within the overburden. The highly weathered nature of the limited leucogranite outcrop indicates that leaching has occurred near-surface, and as a result, leucogranites found at surface would not be expected to be mineralized other than possible secondary mineralization (carnotite) — as discovered from initial field reconnaissance. Drilling below the weathering profile is required to test for primary leucogranite-hosted mineralization (uraninite), typical of Rössing-style deposits.
Technical Disclosure
The historical exploration results and historical resource estimate summarized herein are considered historical in nature and have not been verified by the Company’s Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). These results, including the historical resource estimate, are sourced from Wartha, R.R. (2009). 2009 Annual Technical Report – EPL 3637 (Ancash Investment (Pty) Ltd.), prepared for Valencia Uranium (Pty) Ltd., December 18, 2009. The approximate historical resource estimate was calculated using an area of 1.5 million m2 and an average mineralized thickness of 1 to 2 metres within the overburden gycretes and calcretes providing approximately 3.9 million tonnes of mineralization at 70 ppm, totaling in 600,000 lbs of U₃O₈. The historical resource categories used in the estimate do not conform to the current CIM Definition Standards and should not be compared directly to current mineral resource categories. The Company is not aware of any more recent mineral resource estimates for the Property. A Qualified Person has not completed sufficient work to verify the historical estimate or to classify it as a current mineral resource, and the Company is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. To verify and upgrade the historical estimate, additional work will be required, including data verification, review of historical drilling and sampling QA/QC, updated geological modeling, and completion of a new mineral resource estimate in accordance with NI 43-101 and CIM Definition Standards.
Tolene Kruger, BSc. (Hons), M.Sc., is a consulting geologist and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information on this webpage. Mrs. Kruger is registered as Professional Natural Scientist (Pr.Sci.Nat.) with the South African Council for Natural Science Professions (SACNASP, Reg. No.: 148182), and a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
