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Australian Rare Earths Limited (ASX: AR3) is pleased to announce highly encouraging results from its ongoing exploration drilling program at the Overland Uranium Project.
Highlights:
- New shallow Uranium occurrence identified: Drill hole OV047 encountered a 6 meter interval of carbonate-cemented sediments from 27 meters, with anomalous gamma and pXRF uranium readings.
- Potential for the presence of an additional uranium model: Hole OVO47 demonstrates potential for near-surface, calcrete-hosted mineralisation (see Figure 1) - similar to uranium deposits1 mined in Namibia2 - in addition to AR3’s initial palaeochannel hosted ISR amenable uranium deposit targets.
- Accelerated follow-up drilling: Drilling program will re-commence in the week beginning 10 March 2025 to follow up the shallow uranium occurrence intersected in hole OV047.
- Rapid assay and minerology analysis: Samples generated from hole OV047 are being prioritised for assay and mineralogical determinations.
- Palaeovalley extension confirmed with multiple Uranium targets: Drilling has successfully defined the southern extension of a key palaeovalley within the southern portion of EL7001 and extending into EL6678 (See Figure 2).
- Engage with this announcement at the AR3 investor hub.
AR3 Managing Director and CEO, Travis Beinke, said:
“The intersection of a shallow uranium occurrence in OV047 is a significant step forward in our exploration program at Overland. The identification of shallow mineralisation, coupled with the confirmation of the palaeovalley's southern extension, underscores and reinforces the - potential of this project.
Our systematic approach to exploration and targeted drilling, continues to deliver results. We are excited to accelerate our follow up drilling to further delineate the extent of this new uranium occurrence and test the numerous high-priority targets we have identified. We look forward to reporting further results as we continue our drilling program through to the end of April."
Figure 1: Strip log displaying drillhole OV047 lithology, natural gamma responses (cps) and pXRF uranium responses (ppm U). In relation to the disclosure of pXRF results, the Company cautions that estimates of uranium elemental abundance from pXRF results should not be considered a proxy for quantitative analysis of a laboratory assay result. Assay results are required to determine the actual widths and grade of the mineralisation. The company uses an Olympus Vanta M Series portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analyzer to screen Air Core drilling samples for mineralization prior to submitting samples to a commercial laboratory for assay. This provides an initial understanding of the mineralization distribution before sampling, ensuring submitted samples are representative of the targeted mineralization. While pXRF confirms the presence of mineralization, it does not accurately determine elemental concentrations due to limitations such as a small analysis window, uneven distribution, shallow penetration depth, and irregular surfaces. The pXRF results are indicative and the pXRF readings are subject to confirmation by chemical analysis from an independent laboratory.
The 2025 program, which began 30 January 2025, has focused on mapping the newly defined palaeovalley (refer ASX release 21 January 2025) further south within EL7001 and onto the Sheer Gold Farm-In tenure, EL66783. A total of 22 drillholes has been completed, totaling 3,010 meters, illustrated in Figure 2.
Target 1 of EL6678, drillhole OV047 has intersected a 6 meter interval containing anomalous gamma and pXRF Uranium (U) responses. Gamma responses peaked at 741 counts per second (cps), with maximum pXRF uranium response of 105ppm U. This surficial uranium occurrence is similar to uranium mineralisation found in Namibia’s surficial uranium deposits, like Paladin Energy’s Langer Heinrich Mine. Similar calcrete-hosted deposits are also found in Western Australia4 at Cameco Corporation’s Yeelirrie deposit and Toro Energy’s Wiluna project.
The identification of another potential uranium occurrence model at Overland highlights the region’s fertility, where uranium in solution enters the basin and is captured at various geochemical interfaces within the sedimentary sequences. Drillhole OV047 shows anomalous uranium responses over a 6 meter interval from 27 meters and displayed the highest gamma response yet seen at the base of oxidation interface with reduced sediments. These findings suggest potential for both deeper palaeochannel hosted, in-situ recoverable (ISR) deposits and shallow surficial deposits in this setting.
Click here for the full ASX Release
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