Orpheus Uranium set to commence maiden drilling campaign at Erudina prospect
Orpheus Uranium (ASX: ORP) has defined an initial drilling campaign at the Erudina prospect within the Frome project in South Australia, which is set to commence once government approvals have been received.
The first-pass campaign will feature 30 rotary mud drill holes for 7,000 metres of drilling to target 12 historic holes containing uranium mineralisation.
The program will use the nominal cut-off grade of 250 parts per million uranium oxide equivalent with at least 0.5m vertical thickness previously applied to sedimentary-hosted uranium deposits in the district.
Drilling will aim to identify roll-front and tabular-style uranium mineralisation, targeting pyritic sands, gravels and carbonaceous material of the Lower Eyre Formation.
It will also test the potential of palaeochannel features identified from the interpretation of a detailed passive seismic survey.
Program approvals
Orpheus — which changed its name from Argonaut Resources to better reflect its business focus — submitted a program for environment protection and rehabilitation to the South Australian government in December.
It has appointed a drilling contractor and geophysical wireline logger for the campaign, with the preparation of drill sites, mobilisation and logistics expected to start in the next quarter.
Executive chair Mick Billing said the company was keen to commence drilling at Erudina.
“This initial campaign will be a significant milestone for us as a newly-focussed uranium explorer,” he said.
“We look forward to providing updates on our work as we aim to uncover the uranium potential of the Frome project.”
Further exploration warranted
The Erudina prospect comprises tertiary sequence stratigraphy located within the Erudina palaeochannel and contains a 12km strike length target zone that warrants further exploration.
Historic drilling results include grades of more than 1,500ppm uranium equivalent within porous sands and reduced carbonaceous horizons of the highly-prospective Eyre Formation.
The results have an association with strong reduction-oxidation ‘redox’ front systems that represent migration of oxidising groundwaters.
Orpheus has inspected the historic drill core and confirmed the redox processes are visually evident as iron oxide staining within sands of the Eyre Formation.
The Frome project covers large portions of the Erudina, Curnamona, Frome Downs and Billeroo palaeochannels and is located west of the Goulds Dam deposit held by Boss Energy (ASX: BOE).