Uranium company Marenica Energy Limited(ASX:MEY) has completed the acquisition of Australian uranium tenements from Optimal Mining Limited as a balance to its operations in Namibia.
Marenica Managing Director, Murray Hill, said the Optimal Mining interests containing 48 million pounds of high-grade resources at an average grade of 859 ppm U3O8, increases the company’s uranium resources by 100%.
The new assets add to Marenica’s existing 61Mlb uranium resource at the Marenica Uranium Project (75% owned) in Namibia and compliments its large tenement holding of 4,527 square kilometres strategically acquired in Namibia over the last 18 months.
Mr Hill said the new high-grade resources are contained within 16 mining tenements and joint venture interests in 28 mining tenements in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, all of which are prospective for uranium and include uranium mineral resources.
The new assets include the Angela, Thatcher Soak and Oobagooma projects, and joint venture holdings in the Bigrlyi, Malawiri, Walbiri and Areva joint ventures in Australia.
“The counter-cyclical purchase of these high-grade uranium resources in Australia, averaging 859 ppm U3O8, increases our uranium resources by 48 MlbsU3O8 and thereby doubles our mineral resources,” Mr Hill said.
“In addition, Marenica has had a successful 2019, with excellent drilling results at Koppies in Namibia with grades of up to 4,504 ppm U3O8, identification of two palaeochannels at Koppies with one measuring 3.6 km by 1.2 km and a successful programme of acquiring strategically located tenements in Namibia.
Marenica expects to ultimately add significant value to its uranium portfolios through applying its 100% owned U-pgrade beneficiation process to the projects,” he said.
Mr Hill stated that Marenica now has one of the largest uranium resource inventories of any company listed on the ASX, has projects diversified by geographic location and owns U-pgrade, its revolutionary uranium beneficiation process.
“The company is positioned as a unique opportunity within the uranium sector.”