Deep Yellow kicks off two-stage drilling campaign at Omahola uranium project
First pass delineation drilling by Deep Yellow has opened a multiple mineralised channel system ready for follow-up resource drilling.
Advanced explorer Deep Yellow (ASX: DYL) has commenced a two-stage, 10,000-metre drilling program at the Omahola project in Namibia to follow-up positive results from a shallow campaign completed last year.
Phase one of the program kicked off this week and will comprise 39 holes for a total 4,900m, with focus areas and drill hole locations around the Ongolo, MS7 and Inca targets.
Nine holes (for 1,900m) will explore the south-western extensions of Ongolo while another 17 will extend anomalous zones identified and left open by last year’s activity.
Phase two of the program will begin in May after the scheduled completion of phase one by the end of April.
Alaskite Alley corridor
The Omahola project occurs in Namibia’s highly-prospective Alaskite Alley corridor, which includes major uranium deposits Rössing, Husab, Etango and Valencia.
Collectively, these deposits contain more than 800 million pounds of uranium oxide, with the Rössing mine alone having produced in excess of 200Mlb.
Uranium mineralisation at Omahola occurs across Ongolo, MS7 and Inca and is associated with sheeted leucogranites (locally known as alaskites) and hydrothermal skarn formation.
In November, Deep Yellow unveiled an updated resource for the project of 125.3Mlb at 190 parts per million uranium oxide with a 100ppm cut-off across the measured, inferred and indicated categories.
The company believes there is potential to further expand resources considering the “substantial accumulation of uranium” and the project’s underexplored nature.
Internal evaluation
Last year’s campaign followed an internal evaluation of historic Omahola assays and highlighted that basement-related deposits may be discovered by systematic shallow drilling of between 25m to 35m depth.
The campaign comprised 220 holes for a total 7,426m.
Assays identified three new priority targets requiring testing for possible extension of the Ongolo deposit and testing anomalous zones west of MS7 and south of Inca.
The program also defined the existence of an extensive associated prospective zone, providing a new exploration target for Deep Yellow to unlock further value across its Namibian portfolio.