ASX-listed ENRG Elements (ASX: EEL) has jagged mammoth uranium oxide grades up to 5.84 per cent in trench sampling of a braided channel system next to its Takardeit uranium resource at the Agadez uranium project in Niger, Africa.
Other notable trench sample assays above 2 per cent uranium oxide include 4.68 per cent, 4.19 per cent, 2.41 per cent, 2.27 per cent and 2.18 per cent uranium oxide, or “U3O8”.
Remarkably, 19 samples out of a total of 106 trench samples analysed by Intertek’s laboratory in Western Australia assayed better than 10,000ppm (1 per cent) uranium oxide and 73 exceeded 500ppm (0.05 per cent) uranium oxide.
ENRG says the latest outstanding trench sample results validate its geological model and confirms that the high grade uranium – often assaying above 1 per cent uranium oxide - is associated with a braided and nested belt of fluvial (river) channels at the base of the prospective Mousseden Formation, where individual channels can range between 10m and 25m wide and are typically more than 3m thick.
The oxide mineralisation is hosted in medium- to coarse-grained and locally conglomeratic sandstones, with the best grades being associated with a basal conglomerate, a sedimentary rock comprising rounded gravel-sized or bigger pieces of rock surrounded by finer-grained sediments such as sand, silt, or clays.
Conglomerates form when rounded gravels deposited by water or glaciers become solidified and cemented by pressure over time. They are found in sedimentary rock sequences of all ages.
Interestingly, ENRG says the coarse sedimentary materials at the project - from sandstones to conglomerates - are often found to contain analcime, a white or slightly coloured mineral consisting of hydrated silicate of sodium and aluminium which occurs in various igneous rocks in massive form or in crystals.
However, importantly for ENRG in its exploration context, the presence of analcime can provide clues as to the provenance of the sedimentary sequence, including its history of specific geological processes and former environments which may point to favourable uranium-hosting conditions or sources.
While uranium is distributed throughout much of the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic Mousseden Formation, the best radiometric counts – up to 10,000 counts per second (cps) - draw exploration to the basal conglomerate, near its erosional contact with underlying sediments.
With the basal location being shown by trench sampling to yield the best uranium grades, ENRG’s model and focus on the lower Mousseden Formation would appear to be well placed.
The trenching program comprised five trenches at three sites, with three trenches at Takardeit East and two at Takardeit North-East testing to depths ranging between 0.9 to 2.5m below surface. The two locations are separated by a distance of about 5500m.
Trench sites were selected on the basis of surface sampling results, historical drilling and 2009 airborne magnetics and radiometric anomalism, supported by ENRG’s ground surveys.
The latest trenching program has also validated previous exceptional rock-chip sampling results which were reported early last year.
The results include five uranium oxide hits above 1.2 per cent up to the top two eyebrow-raising maxima of 26.1 per cent uranium oxide from the Takardeit East area and 34.3 per cent uranium oxide from the Takardeit North-East location.
And remarkably, that entire rock-chip program returned 74 out of 83 samples (89 per cent) running grades above 500ppm (0.05 per cent) uranium oxide.
The Takardeit sites lie within ENRG’s Terzemazour 1 exploration permit which comprises part of the company’s Agadez uranium project where the uranium resource sits at Takardiet Centre, just 3200m west of Takardiet East.
The estimate was updated to JORC 2012 standard in April 2021 and comprises an inferred resource of 31.1 million tonnes at a grade of 315ppm uranium oxide for 21.5 million pounds (9.75 million kilograms) of uranium oxide, at a 175ppm cut-off grade.
The latest trenching data – both assays and geology - has significant bearing on the company’s ongoing exploration where it can more precisely target higher-grade and / or shallower zones which could improve project economics and also better plan its next round of drilling towards a future mineral resource update.
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