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Odessa Minerals
Overview
Odessa Minerals (ASX:ODE) is an ASX-listed junior mining and exploration company focusing on uranium exploration in the Gascoyne Region of Western Australia via its three projects— Lyndon Project, Relief Well and Gascoyne East.
Odessa Mineral’s pivot towards uranium and away from lithium is a smart move, especially in the current environment of high uranium prices. Uranium prices have soared to their highest point since 2008, surpassing US$100 per pound. This upward trend is expected to continue due to the ongoing supply and demand imbalance for uranium. With its portfolio of uranium projects, Odessa is strategically positioned to capitalize on these robust market fundamentals.
Odessa Minerals’ projects in the Gascoyne Region of Western Australia totalling >3,000km2
The company’s flagship Lyndon project is immediately adjacent to Paladin Energy’s 15.6 million pounds (Mlbs) U3O8 Carley Bore uranium project. The Lyndon Project has identified highly significant uranium intersections with some rock chip sample assay results showing exceptional grades up to 6,612 parts per millions (ppm) U3O8 at the Baltic Bore and Jailor Bore prospects. Odessa plans to begin drilling at the target areas in 2024.
The other two projects—Relief Well and Gascoyne East—have shown significant potential for uranium. An extensive palaeochannel stretching over 8 kilometers has been verified at Relief Well, offering the potential for uranium mineralization in a roll-front style. Odessa is planning a drilling program to test roll-front uranium mineralization at Relief Well.
The Gascoyne East project is one of the most under-explored areas in the Gascoyne Province. The company has identified multiple gold, copper and uranium targets for the project, and drilling has been planned for 2024.
The company is in the early stages of its operations, making it attractive for investors looking to get exposure to uranium assets in a tier-1 mining region like Gascoyne. The high insider holding, at nearly 28 percent, is an encouraging sign for investors as it aligns management’s interests with those of the shareholders.
Company Highlights
- Odessa Minerals is an ASX-listed, uranium exploration company with a large holding covering over 3,000 sq. km. in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The company has three key projects in the area – Lyndon, Relief Well, Gascoyne East.
- The company focuses on advancing uranium prospects at its flagship project, Lyndon. Lyndon is adjacent to Paladin Energy’s Carley Bore uranium project, which has a resource base of 15.6 Mlbs U3O8.
- Initial review of the Lyndon project has identified highly significant uranium intersections at the Jailor Bore, Baltic Bore and Ben Hur prospects, with some exceptional grades reaching up to 6,600 ppm U3O8.
- The Relief Well Uranium Project has revealed significant palaeochannel-hosted uranium mineralization typically amenable to low-cost recovery. The company will move forward with drill planning and seek approvals to conduct drilling at the Relief Well prospect.
- Uranium prices have surged to their highest level since 2008, exceeding US$100 per pound. This upward trend is anticipated to persist due to the tight supply and demand balance for uranium. Odessa's portfolio of uranium projects is well-positioned to benefit from strong fundamentals.
- The Gascoyne East project has extensive gold, copper and uranium targets that were identified during the recent airborne survey. The company is planning air-core and RC drilling for the project in 2024.
- The Company’s senior leadership team is well-experienced in the mining sector and has significant ownership in the company at nearly 28 percent. This is an encouraging sign for investors as it aligns the management’s interest with that of the shareholders.
Key Projects
Lyndon Project
The Lyndon project tenements total 1,000km2 of highly prospective ground for REE/lithium exploration. The project has also shown signs of significant uranium potential, making the company pivot towards it and aligning its priorities to uranium exploration. The initial fieldwork on the project has yielded impressive results.
Jailor Bore, Baltic Bore and Ben Hur prospects showed significant calcrete-hosted uranium mineralization at the surface. The findings at the Balti Bore and Jailor Bore included 12 rock chips with assays revealing over 1,000 ppm U3O8 and five rock chips with assays showing more than 1,000 ppm V2O5 (vanadium oxide).
Carnotite (uranium) mineralisation within siliceous calcrete at the Jailor Bore prospect in sample XT0938.
Baltic Bore prospect: The Baltic Bore prospect area features several radiometric anomalies linked to calcrete terraces, extending over a strike length of 2.6 km. Baltic yielded a noteworthy 6,612 ppm U3O8 while also uncovering 2,132 ppm V2O5 in sample XT0970. An additional eight samples show rock chip assays exceeding 1,000 ppm U3O8. Historically, little attention has been paid to the Baltic Bore prospects compared to Jailor Bore. However, the assay results at Baltic Bore indicate significant potential for high-grade uranium discovery.
Jailor Bore target: Jailor Bore encompasses more than 2 km of uranium radiometric anomalies along its strike length. Surface mineralization has been observed at this target, with four rock chip assays exceeding 1,000 ppm U3O8, with a maximum of 4,489 ppm U3O8. Additionally, high vanadium levels were found to be associated with uranium mineralization, with rock chip XT0929 showing up to 1,541 ppm V2O5.
Ben Hur, Giant and Red Hill Uranium Targets: The Ben Hur, Giant and Red Hill prospects exhibit calcrete-type uranium mineralization similar to that found at the Baltic Bore and Jailor Bore. Historical exploration reported intersections up to 2 meters @ 411 ppm U3O8 from 4 meters.
Relief Well Project
VTEM survey data has confirmed the presence of a palaeochannel at the Relief Well prospect with a strike length of greater than 8 km that remains open to the south. The palaeochannel-hosted uranium mineralization at the Relief Well prospect is typically amenable to low-cost in-situ leach recovery. Relief Well is situated directly along the strike and serves as an upstream extension of the paleochannel that hosts Paladin Energy’s Carley Bore, which contains a 15.6 Mlbs U3O8 resource. The company will now move forward with drill planning and will seek approvals to conduct drilling at the Relief Well prospect.
Gascoyne East Project
The Gascoyne East Project tenements cover 2,108 sq. km. of exploration licenses. The Gascoyne East project is one of the most under-explored areas of the Gascoyne Province. The company has identified multiple gold, copper and uranium targets for the project, and is planning a two-phase air-core drilling program. Phase 1 air core drilling with hole spacings ranging from 200 meters to 400 meters aims to update the basement geology model and rank targets for the follow-up Phase 2 drill program, which will test for mineralization at depth. Phase 1 drilling is expected to commence in Q3 2024.
Management Team
Zane Lewis – Non-Executive Director
Zane Lewis is the principal and co-founder of SmallCap Corporate, a corporate advisory firm that specializes in providing corporate advice and compliance administration to public companies. Leveraging his extensive financial and corporate experience from previous roles, Lewis brings a wealth of knowledge to the board. Additionally, he holds the title of Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and serves as a non-executive director of Lion Energy (ASX:LIO) and Kairos Minerals (ASX:KAI).
David Lenigas – Executive Director
David Lenigas is a mining engineer holding a Western Australian First Class Mine Managers Certificate. He boasts vast corporate experience, having served as chairman and chief executive officer of numerous leading stock exchanges worldwide, overseeing various business sectors. He has also held senior financial and management roles in publicly listed and private enterprises across Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Africa.
Lisa Wells – Non-Executive Director
Lisa Wells brings 26 years of experience as an exploration geologist, having worked across various commodities such as diamonds, bulk commodities, gold, and base metals. Previously, she was a senior geologist at United Kimberley Diamonds, overseeing the Phillips Range diamond bulk sampling program at Aries South in Central Kimberley.
Wells has extensive expertise in environmental and permitting approvals, coordinating trial mining operations, conducting feasibility studies, and managing projects across a range of commodities, including diamonds, gold, phosphate and base metals.
Currently, Wells is a non-executive director of Territory Minerals, a gold company with projects in North Queensland. She holds a BAppSc. in Geology from Curtin University.
Robbie Featherby – Company Secretary
Robbie Featherby is a corporate advisor at SmallCap Corporate, a specialized boutique firm offering company secretarial, CFO and transaction management services to both listed and unlisted companies. Additionally, he is the company secretary at Victory Goldfields (ASX:1VG), Cosmos Exploration and Volt Resources.
High-Grade Uranium Interval of 1963ppm at Likuyu North at the Mkuju Uranium Project; Commencement of Initial ISR Work
- Drill-hole LNDD020 drilled at the Likuyu North deposit, part of the Mkuju Project, returns 6 mineralised intervals including 7.1 metres averaging 1,963ppm eU3O81, from 63.1 metres depth. This hole was drilled central to the deposit to provide core for an assessment of In Situ Recovery (ISR) of the uranium.
- ISR is the preferred method for mining uranium deposits. ERM Australia Consultants Pty Ltd (ERM) are undertaking an initial ISR assessment for Likuyu North.
- Drill-hole LNDD015 down-dip of the deposit has a ~5m mineralised interval; samples have been dispatched to the lab. This interval is 100m south of the current Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).
- The 2022 JORC compliant MRE for Likuyu North (4.6 Mlbs U3O8) was based on a pit- shell assuming conventional open-pit mining methods; adoption of ISR may support expansion of it.
Commenting on the drill results, Gladiator’s Chairman Greg Johnson said:
“Drillhole LNDD020 demonstrates the quality of the Likuyu North deposit, and we are excited by the potential opportunity the area provides. Grade and other characteristics appear to be well-suited to ISR. With that in mind, Gladiator has appointed ERM (formerly CSA Global) to help advance this strategy, and if the ISR study is encouraging the Company will consider larger-scale exploration at Likuyu North, Likuyu South and at the Mtonya deposit area, with an aim of maximizing the resource available for a potential ISR operation”.
Drillhole LNDD020
This hole was drilled to provide fresh drill-core to assist with initial assessment of the potential of ISR as a mining method for the Likuyu North deposit. The deposit has a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 4.6Mlbs U3O8 with an average grade of 267ppm U3O8. The hole was positioned in an area relatively central to the deposit known to have thick and high-grade mineralisation, hosted by medium to coarse grained sandstone beds. Figure 1 is a cross-section and shows LNDD020. The hole contains 6 mineralised intervals (Table 2) including:
- 2.5 metres with an average grade of 438 ppm eU3O8 from 17.1m depth.
- 7.1 metres with an average grade of 1,963 ppm eU3O8 from 63.1m depth.
Figure 1: North-south cross-section showing the downhole logged eU3O8, mineralized layers and oxide/transitional zones. LNDD015 and LNDD020 are shown.
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This article includes content from Gladiator Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Odessa Minerals Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects