Infini Resources (ASX: I88) is looking to expand its Yeelirrie North uranium project in Western Australia by a whopping 368 per cent after applying for tenements to take its potential holdings to more than 760 square kilometres.
The operation sits next door to Cameco’s Yeelirrie project which boasts a mineral resource of 128.1 million pounds of uranium oxide at an average ore grade of 1500 parts per million uranium oxide.
The Yeelirrie deposit is one of only four uranium deposits permitted to be mined by the WA Government prior to the state’s ban on new uranium mining that was introduced in 2017.
If successfully granted, the tenement applications will increase Infini’s landholdings by 554sq-km from its current tenement package of 207sq-km. The additions would make the company one of the largest landholders in the area alongside Cameco.
After acquiring data from historical airborne geophysical surveys, a total of 12 new uranium targets have been highlighted which will be tested with mapping and sampling programs. Management says the pending exploration licenses cover areas of highly anomalous uranium and thorium that also correlate strongly with interpreted calcrete and leached regolith horizons in the recently received aerial imagery.
The Yeelirrie North Project expansion represents an excellent low-cost opportunity for the Company, timed when the uranium sentiment in Western Australia is experiencing positive change. Following rigorous geophysical desktop studies, the Company has acted swiftly to expand its exploration footprint at Yeelirrie to include radiometric anomalism adjacent to the Company’s existing license.
Infini Resources chief executive officer Charles Armstrong
The company holds tenements across four Canadian provinces with its Portland Creek, Tinco and Des Herbiers projects accounting for its uranium exploration pursuits, while its Patterson Lake and Valor operations make up its North American lithium ventures. In Western Australia, it also holds the Pegasus and Parna lithium projects in addition to the Yeelirrie North uranium enterprise.
Yeelirrie North sits about 70km south-west of the WA town of Wiluna and currently spans from the northern extremity of the Archaean Norseman Wiluna greenstone belt of the Yilgarn Craton. While the area has been previously explored for nickel and uranium, management says only limited work has been undertaken in recent years.
Infini has timed its potential extension to its Yeelirrie North project to perfection with the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIWA) last month calling to overturn the state’s uranium mining ban. WA Liberal party leader Libby Mettam has also pledged to overturn the ban if elected in next year’s state election as has the WA National Party, His Majesty’s official Opposition in the state right now.
CCIWA chief economist Aaron Morey said WA’s uranium industry could easily exceed $1 billion a year. South Australia currently allows uranium to be mined and exported, while the Northern Territory is rapidly expanding its exploration efforts.
According CCIWA research, last year South Australia produced around 5469 tonnes of uranium - worth more than $878 million - while WA has capacity to produce an estimated 8000 tonnes annually.
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