Elevate Uranium closes in on key Koppies milestones
Elevate Uranium (ASX: EL8) is on target to unveil an update for its Koppies project in Namibia within the second quarter of 2024 thanks to its aggressive ongoing drilling campaign.
The company is planning to upgrade the initial JORC inferred resource of 20.3 million pounds of uranium which has previously been estimated at Koppies.
Elevate has now completed drilling for the next resource update for the project and expects the new resource estimation data to be finalised in early November.
Three rigs in action
A fleet of three drilling rigs continued the resource drilling program through the September quarter and helped successfully expand the mineralised envelope at Koppies.
The rigs completed a total of 724 holes for 20,354 metres, lifting the rate of drilling by 41% on the previous quarter.
Resource drilling during the quarter was focused on the northern area and the fringes of the central area of the Koppies 3 target.
Separate evaluation phases
Due to the size of the significant mineralised envelope which is being drilled in the resource and resource estimation program, Elevate has elected to separate it into several phases, which will now run through to March 2024.
The resource drilling completed to date has identified multiple areas of open mineralisation on the edges of the Koppies 1, 2 and 3 domains.
The company’s management believes these areas represent potential extensions, and growth opportunities, to the existing areas of mineralisation at Koppies 3 and the existing mineral resources at Koppies 1 and 2.
Elevate is now undertaking an 861 hole, 24,108 metre program with one rig operating in the Koppies 4 area, while the other rigs are now testing the Koppies 2 area.
The final results from the various programs will be combined for the estimation of an interim resource which is expected to be completed during the March 2024 Quarter.
Aggressive drilling campaign
In his recent annual address to the Elevate shareholders, chairman Andrew Bantock said the company had elected to significantly step up the pace of its Namibian exploration and resource drilling and is testing mineralisation over 20km of strike.
“Through this aggressive program we generated a substantial amount of new geological data which we expect can underpin the future re-estimation of ore resources at Koppies.”
He described Namibia as a great place to invest due to its stable and accessible uranium jurisdiction, with an established legal and commercial framework and robust supporting infrastructure.
He also highlighted the scale of the opportunity within the company’s significant land holdings in the country, with exploration to date identifying multiple shallow, flat and extensive mineralised systems.
Notably the shallow mineralised systems sit largely in flat, relatively featureless, and sparsely vegetated terrain, allowing exploration to be rapidly advanced.
Mr Bantock also highlighted the positive impetus for nuclear energy from global energy market disruption and the emergence of new technologies, in particular Small Modular Reactors, as a future reliable, scalable, base load power source and potential source for increased uranium demand.