GoviEx Uranium Inc. has announced that it has started its 2022 field programme on its Mutanga uranium project in Zambia, one of three African projects owned by GoviEx
The Mutanga project is planned as an open pit. (Image source: Adobe Stock)
The project is planned to be developed following the company’s flagship Madaouela uranium project in Niger.
The field programme will target key aspects that will assist to progress the Mutanga project towards completion of its feasibility study and potential subsequent funding and construction.
The planned field programme includes 15,500 metres of infill drilling, with an aim to upgrade the project’s Dibwe East resource from inferred to indicated category, extending the work completed by GoviEx in 2021. The drilling is planned to use down-hole percussion drilling to an average depth of 120 metres in a nominal 100 m x 50 m grid.
GoviEx has also commissioned 9,000 metres of diamond drilling to obtain core samples for uranium assays that will be used to determine uranium disequilibrium factors for the Mutanga project’s Dibwe East and Dibwe deposits. The drilling will also provide metallurgical samples for process verification and optimisation test work and for geotechnical studies.
Based on its 2017 Preliminary Economic Assessment, the Mutanga project is planned as an open pit, heap leach operation with an 11-year mine life forecast to produce 2.6 Mlbs of U3O8 per year. Uranium recovery is forecast at 88% with a relatively low capital intensity. Start-up capex is estimated to be US$123mn and cash operating costs are forecast at US$31.1/lb U3O8.
Daniel Major, CEO of GovieEX, commented, “We are a multi asset developer on track to deliver on the feasibility study for our mine permitted Mutanga project. This is two years after we plan to deliver the feasibility study for our Madaouela project in Niger, which is due in the first half of this year. With increased uranium prices driven by strong market fundamentals, the Mutanga Project continues to be a key asset for GoviEx.”
