LANCE DRILLING PROGRAM SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED
Highlights
• Uranium mineralisation encountered in all holes
• 21 holes exceed a combined grade thickness product of 0.3 ft % U3O8
• Hydrological and Metallurgical testing planned
Summary
The rotary mud and core drilling program has been concluded at the Ross Project
Area (Ross) of the Lance projects in Wyoming, USA (Lance). Twenty five holes were
completed at Ross in the current program with high quality geological and geophysical
information generated which will provide a detailed understanding on the mineralisation at
the project.
The current drilling program results have achieved the objective of confirming the presence of
the historic uranium mineralisation at Lance and have enhanced the understanding of the
project’s geology and mineralisation. The new level of detail was previously unavailable from
the historical drilling and provides an excellent framework for detailed geological
interpretation and correlation of the mineralised sands.
Current Drilling Program
The rotary mud and core drilling program (Drilling Program) at Ross commenced on
12 September 2008 with 4,510m (14,795ft) drilled from the 25 completed holes. This includes
four part core holes. These four core holes have been drilled to produce samples for detailed
petrophysical and leachability testing. These tests will update the key parameters required for
a successful ISR operation and complement the existing historic hydrological and metallurgical
data.
The Drilling Program has confirmed the historic mineralised intervals through gamma and PFN
logging of all of the holes. A cluster of holes has been drilled in the northern portion of the Ross
area to provide detailed geological and down-hole logging data to assess the continuity of
mineralised sands and their shale/siltstone “breaks” which isolate the mineralised sand units
from each other; a pre-requisite for ISR mining.
Current Drilling Program Results
All holes drilled to date in the program have intersected uranium mineralisation over a strike
length of 2.2km out of the 2.9km of strike outlined in the historic drilling.
Of the twenty five holes drilled to date, 21 holes contain combined mineralised intervals that
exceed the 0.3 ft % U3O8 grade thickness product used as a “rule of thumb” for economic ISR
mineralisation in this setting.
As recognised in the historic cores taken in the 1970’s the mineralised sandstone units
commonly contain thin (one foot or less thick) splits of siltstone and shale. The historic testing
determined that these discontinuous shale splits do not affect the permeability of the sand
units appreciably and tend to increase the ratio of horizontal to vertical permeability. These
splits can be evidenced in Table 1 where mineralised intervals are separated by 1-2ft barren
zones.
The new cores showed the mineralised sandstones to be dominantly comprised of clean, fine
to medium grained sandstone. This sandstone is in turn dominantly comprised of quartz with
lesser feldspar and low clay content. Furthermore, the sands commonly contained a
significant amount of organic material (a key reductant for the deposition of uranium) in the
form of carbonaceous shale and lignitic fragments. Core from hole RMRD0003 was particularly
exciting as it displayed the very clear relationship between oxidised and reduced portions of
the sandstones. Radiometric anomalism was strongest in the weakly oxidized side within a zone
of grey- yellow to orange coloured advancing oxidation front; the classic “roll front” geometry.
See Figure 1.
Samples from the four selectively cored holes will now be tested by CoreLabs Denver for a
variety of parameters. All cores will be logged in the laboratory with a closed can gamma
probe which will provide a detailed gamma log of the core interval and allow it to be
referenced to the original down-hole gamma log. Samples will also be taken for chemical
assay which will allow estimation of any disequilibrium present by comparing them with the
gamma logs. The chemical assays will also provide a double check of the PFN grades.
Selective samples will also be assayed for accessory elements such as vanadium and
molybdenum.
The new drilling results at Ross have achieved both of the objectives of the program by
confirming the historic mineralisation at Lance and enhancing the understanding of the
project’s geology and the controls on mineralisation.
Planned for the coming period various hydrological and metallurgical testing will look to
confirm the historic information that suggests that the Ross sands and mineralisation are
amenable to ISR extraction.
Finally your Board is aware of the current global financial situation and will monitor the market
conditions closely going forward before the planned resumption of an increased scale drilling
program in 2009.
Yours Sincerely
John (Gus) Simpson
Chairman
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