Okapi Resources Limited’s (ASX: OKR) wholly-owned subsidiary Okapi Resources Canada Ltd has received permits allowing it to drill up to 10,000m in 24 drill holes as well as conduct ground based geophysical surveys of up to 100 line km at its Middle Lake Uranium Project in Saskatchewan, Canada.
This is an important milestone for Okapi, as the company continues to progress and advance its uranium projects in North America,” Managing Director, Andrew Ferrier, said.
“Obtaining a permit to drill at our 80% owned Middle Lake Project in the Athabasca Basin, the world’s premier uranium district, provides the opportunity for the company to start exploration work on our highly prospective exploration properties located only 4km from the past producing Cluff Lake Mine which produced approximately 64 million pounds of uranium.
“The proposed exploration programme will focus on prioritising drill targets by reinterpreting the historic geochemistry, geophysics and drill data, combined with satellite imaging (currently underway) which will provide a structural framework.
“The highest priority drill targets will then be followed by a potential diamond core drilling program, that is likely to be conducted in the North America winter of Q1 2023.”
Proposed Exploration Programme
The Middle Lake Uranium Project has had a long history of exploration work completed with the last drill programme occurring in the winter of 2015 comprising 17 shallow drill holes for a total of 1,851 meters of drilling.
The drilling revealed areas of anomalous radioactivity and uranium concentrations associated with graphitic schist and mylonite; the exploration is consistent of that for unconformity style uranium deposits in areas adjacent to the contact between the underlying Archean Basement and Athabasca Group rocks.
Okapi’s immediate aim is to take the historic data and reinterpret and remodel the historic surface and drill data, geochemistry and geophysics to provide targets for drill testing. This will be combined with new remote sensing image interpretation currently underway that, when integrated with the historic, existing geophysical survey results, will provide a structural framework that can be incorporated into the geologic modelling.
The application of multi-spectral satellite imaging to exploration at Middle Lake, and the enhanced software capacity now available, can readily detect areas of alteration associated with Uranium mineralisation.
The targets generated from the geologic model will then be followed by a potential diamond core drilling programme that is likely to be conducted in the North America winter of Q1 2023. The drill permits will allow Okapi to drill up to 10,000m in 24 drill holes.