GoviEx Uranium refocuses resources and geotechnical drilling at Madaouela Uranium project in Niger

GoviEx Uranium Inc (CVE:GXU) (OTCQB:GVXXF) (FRA:7GU) announced that it has signed contracts to undertake drilling programs related to a feasibility study for its Madaouela Uranium project in Niger. 

CEO Daniel Major said GoviEx decided to move straight on to the completion of the feasibility study required to secure project financing following the positive results of an updated pre-feasibility study (PFS) and its view that the uranium market fundamentals are improving. 

“A key benefit from the updated PFS was the simplification and optimisation of the Project – which has also simplified the scope of the remaining test work expected to be completed in support of a feasibility study,” Major said.  

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“As a result, our priorities for the advancement of Madaouela include a drilling program designed to further our understanding of the molybdenum mineralization of the Project and confirmatory metallurgical test work,” the CEO added.

GoviEx said it has planned a 13,000 metres (m) drilling program, with a combination of rotary mud and diamond core drilling, to an average depth of 100m. 

The drilling program, located at the Miriam deposit, will focus on three main objectives:

• Drilling a 50m grid within the planned open-pit shape to confirm an indicated mineral resource for molybdenum mineralisation The process flowsheet has been designed to recover molybdenum as a by-product based on the molybdenum content reported in the previous test work.
• Final corroboration of the geotechnical slope design for Miriam, which was steepened from 51 degrees to 53 degrees in the updated PFS.
• Verification of whether Miriam dewatering is sufficient to support process water requirements rather than developing a standalone well field as is currently assumed given the reduced water usage defined in the updated PFS. Positive results, if they are achieved, will potentially permit reduced operating and capital costs associated with water supply, and could also lower the potential environmental impact.

GoviEx said the planned drilling program will be performed by l’Entreprise Sidi Abdoul Aziz de Forage (ESAFOR) and FORACO NIGER SA (FORACO). 

ESAFOR, a Nigerien drilling company, has completed substantial previous drilling for GoviEx, having done over 620,000m of exploration and resource drilling on the project area. FORACO, a Nigerien subsidiary of Foraco International SA, a French drilling company, has concluded extensive exploration work on a number of nearby uranium deposits in Niger. 

GoviEx said the first drill rig is expected on site by May 1, and it is anticipated that the total program will last about five months.

Additionally, the company said it has prepared one tonne of ore samples, which are due to be sent to South Africa, for feasibility study metallurgical test work. Due to the simplification of the process flowsheet, the required test work necessary to meet the technical requirements for a feasibility study is also simplified and will focus on verification and optimization, including comminution, acid leach, and ion exchange.

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Story by ProactiveInvestors