CUX: Core NT Uranium Drilling Under Way
Crossland Uranium Mines Ltd (CUX) is pleased to advise that core drilling has now commenced at the Cockroach Dam prospect within the Company’s key Charley Creek uranium project in the Northern Territory.
The Cockroach Dam drilling start‐up follows the granting of all permits required for Crossland’s present exploration program on the 4,000 square kilometre Charley Creek Project, 130 kilometres west north‐west of Alice Springs. The initial core drilling is taking place in the Cockroach East area which is the most accessible area of the Company’s Cockroach Dam Prospect, and is one of four areas in the prospect that have been scheduled for drilling.
The four targeted areas have have been defined from high uranium radiometric readings in airborne and ground surveys. All of these lie within the geological unit known as the Teapot Granite. The areas to be drilled have also been defined by surface rock chip sampling, with some 186 samples collected to date from the prospect area averaging 439ppm U3O8. The most extensive of the four areas, Cockroach Dam Central, covers over 6 sq. km, and has returned values in rock chip samples of up to 0.536% U3O8, as has been previously reported. Crossland presently believes this is the most promising of the areas, but drilling requires that access is upgraded.
This additional access work is now in progress. As of July 25, Hole CED2010‐1 had reached a depth of 44.8m. Coring has been continuous since the hole collar, on granite outcrop. The secondary uranium mineral, uranophane, is visible in the host rock in the first few metres of the hole, but below that the rock is apparently unaltered granite with radiometric counts similar to the near surface material. It is proposed to sample the Teapot Granite with up to five holes in this phase of exploration at Cockroach East. The nominal depth of these holes will be 150m. This work is designed to evaluate the grade and variability of uranium content, and to provide samples of primary mineralisation for initial mineragraphy.
A further 10 holes are also planned in the first phase of activity at Cockroach Central, for a total of 1500m of core drilling. Crossland has a long‐ stated policy of announcing only elemental uranium assays, not radiometric estimates of uranium content. This means that the core samples now being collected will be subjected to conventional processing procedures before being submitted to an accredited laboratory for analysis. It is expected that the first of the drilling results should start to become available within around one month from now. Crossland will inform the market of significant developments. Geoff Eupene Exploration Director.
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