GTI Resources Ltd (ASX: GTR) is preparing to commence a new exploration programme at the at the Jeffrey Uranium Project in Utah, USA, following the receipt of some positive news.
Including the recent announcement by the US Government of funding support for domestic uranium miners and a sustained improvement in the uranium spot market price, GTI has received positive recent sampling results and importantly, improved ground conditions in Utah.
GTI said it is very encouraged by this news of significant US government support for US domestic uranium producers and sees it as potentially “game changing” for GTI and the US industry and supportive of the company’s US strategy to develop its uranium and vanadium properties in Utah.
The company has confirmed the presence of high‐grade uranium and vanadium potential at the Jeffrey project. A field programmer conducted in November 2018 identified high‐grade in‐situ uranium/vanadium mineralisation from within the workings on the Jeffrey Claim, including a sample that returned 13,932 ppm (1.39%) U3O8 and 2.46% V2O5 from geochemical analysis.
A more recent sampling involved underground channel sampling within historic mine workings.
GTI said the recent assay results, when combined with previously reported laboratory assay results and XRF assay results have further confirmed the presence of high‐grade uranium and vanadium mineralisation within the claim groups acquired by GTI in 2019.
The highlights of the most recent assay samples include a U3O8 grade of 1,167 ppm (0.12%) and 38,917 ppm (3.89%) V2O5 from an assay sample collected from historic mine workings (see Figure 1) within the Jeffrey claim group.
Starting next week, GTI is conducting a down‐hole geophysical logging programme in these holes in a high‐value effort to refine drill targets prior to commencing with the permitted exploration drill program.
The logging programme will generate down‐hole eU3O8 assay values which will aid in determining the geometry of the mineralisation as the trend moves away from outcrop and underground exposure.
The US is the world’s largest consumer of uranium and requires over 40 million pounds (mlbs) of U3O8 supply annually. In 1996 US miners produced over 6 mlbs of U3O8 however US domestic production fell to a paltry 1.6 mlbs p.a. for 2018 (33% less than in 2017) and 2019 projected production figures are a tiny fraction of that at ~174,000 lbs.
GTI is moving to rapidly advance its projects in Utah given the obvious potential to supply high‐grade uranium ore to help fill existing mill processing capacity. GTI is also looking for value accretive opportunities to expand its US project portfolio in this space.
The Jeffrey Project is one of several projects the Company holds in Utah covering ~1,500 hectares of the Henry Mountains region, within Garfield and Wayne Counties near Hanksville, Utah. The region forms part of the prolific Colorado Plateau uranium province which historically provided the most important uranium resources in the USA. Ores have been mined in the region since 1904 and the mining region has historically produced in excess of 17.5Mt @ 2,400ppm U3O8 (92 mlbs U3O8) and 12,500 ppm V2O5 (482 mlbs V2O5).
The region benefits from well‐established infrastructure and a mature mining industry. The White Mesa mill, the only conventional fully licensed and operational uranium/vanadium mill in the United States, is located within trucking distance of the Properties.