Alligator Energy (ASX: AGE) has commenced mobilisation of its contractor to undertake airborne electromagnetic data acquisition at the Big Lake Uranium (BLU) Project in South Australia.
The purpose of the survey is to delineate interpreted palaeochannels within the Eyre formation of the Tertiary sediments that would form a favourable environment for uranium deposition.
SkyTEM Australia was selected to complete the survey utilising the SkyTEM 304 system which is proven to deliver accurate data from the top few metres to depths of up to 350m.
A total of 1,350 line kilometres are proposed, over north south lines spaced at between 400 and 500m, to cover the prospective target area.
The project was granted funding under the South Australian Governments Advanced Discovery Initiative (ADI) scheme. Following a stage 2 application to the scheme in March 2021, the company was awarded $152,400 towards its “Greenfields exploration for ISR uranium deposits in the Cooper Basin”.
Funding is provided as part of the South Australian Government’s Growth State Agenda, with the aim to accelerate mineral discovery through innovative exploration and research projects in regional and frontier terrains throughout South Australia.
CEO, Greg Hall, said the proposed work programme is intended to cover both a geophysics survey and a drilling programme based on the targets identified from the survey.
We are hugely excited to commence airborne exploration of the Big Lake project, and we see the programme as a key step to advancement and testing of a conceptual new ISR field in South Australia. The intention is for the survey to allow focused first pass drill testing in Q3 2021,” Mr Hall said.
“The South Australian ADI scheme is an excellent programme with strong competition for funding and shows the department’s committed and ongoing support towards the mineral industry with a combined $10m in grants to be awarded as part of the scheme.
“We are proud to be operating in two outstanding supportive Australian jurisdictions of South Australia and the Northern Territory for our uranium exploration programmes.”
The Big Lake Project is targeting sandstone hosted uranium in the Moomba Gas Fields, South Australia.
The Big Lake Project targets REDOX and roll front uranium mineralisation within paleochannels of the Lake Eyre formation. The model is for uranium to be sourced from distal uranium rich rocks and transported as oxidised fluids through paleochannels. The area is located on the margins of deep-seated dome structures associated with known gas reservoirs within the Moomba Gas Fields of South Australia.
Initial work completed by BLU included proprietary isopach modelling that identifies variations in basement lithology depths, the location of constraining ridge lines and hydrocarbon influenced domes. The modelling of basement topography has allowed interpretation of hydraulic pathways through potential paleochannels. This formed the basis for the area selection and planned geophysics within the Cooper Basin.
One phase of uranium exploration was previously conducted in the region. This program targeted known gamma anomalies identified in historic oil and gas wells. Anomalous uranium was intersected, however the programme failed to test the interpreted paleochannels along which uranium is believed to have been transported and deposited within roll-front and REDOX environments. The signatures of these existing anomalies are deemed typical of oxidised tails, indicating future exploration would need to be down hydraulic gradient of these intercepts. This next phase of work is designed to accurately identify and map these favourable channels allowing considered drill testing of the concept.
