Australian based and Toronto listed miner, Denison Limited embarked on Phase II of its drilling program at its Southern province based uranium mining project in Zambia ahead of its planned operations next year with prospects of increased output of the mineral.

The spokesperson said that the company was pleased to announce the successful completion of Phase 1 and commencement of Phase 2 of the 2011 drilling program on its 100% Mutanga uranium project in Zambia.

According to the company’s drilling program, about 5,790 meters had been drilled in 58 diamond and reverse circulation holes between April and July this year and that drilling was completed in three zones including Dibwe East Zones 1 and 2 and Mutanga West. Preliminary results of the Phase 1 drilling program in Dibwe East Zones 1 and 2 confirmed the continuity of the mineralization identified in a 2008 drilling program with a combined strike length greater than 2.5 kilometers.

Wide spaced exploration holes indicate that mineralization in the area occurs in three distinct stacked tabular horizons, extending from surface to approximately 120 meters depth. Drilling at Mutanga West further confirmed the mineralization intersected in 2008 and defined a zone extending approximately 300 meters along strike occurring as tabular lenses confined to the upper 40 meters from surface. Drill results indicate that this zone remains open to the northwest.

The spokesperson said that the phase 1 drilling returned a number of strongly mineralized holes from all three zones and that from the 58 holes drilled, the most significant are drill holes DMC1036 in Dibwe East Zone 1, which intersected an 8.6 meter interval averaging 2,496 ppm eU3O8, and DMC1009 which intersected 8.7 meters averaging 1,064 ppm eU3O8.

Accordingly at the Dibwe East Zone 2 area, drill hole DMC1057 cut a 3.8 meter intersection averaging 1,278 ppm eU3O8 and drill hole DMC1042 had a 4.4 meter interval averaging 931 ppm eU3O8. The strongest mineralized hole in the Mutanga West area was MWC1044 which had an intersection of 14 meters averaging 360 ppm eU3O8.

Denision, together with Barrick Gold now owned Lumwan Copper Mine in North western Zambia are two of the major companies dealing in mining of uranium with the latter having already stockpiled more than 5 million tones at its project in Zambia. The company, though has no immediate plans on how the uranium will be disposed of, plans to in future and after liaising with the international atomic energy maximize on the abundant resources of the mineral at the mine.

Mr Adam Wright outgoing MD of Lumwana said that Lumwana mine, if estimates by the miner are anything to go by is likely to remain operational for the next 27 years to 35 years with increased copper deposits at the newly discovered Chimuwingo site. However, there is global debate on the increased mining of uranium in various parts of the world, Zambia, inclusive. Uranium mining interest groups in Zambia are seeking to know government’s policy on uranium mining to safeguard the lives of people. Ideally on the Copperbelt region of Zambia there was uranium mining that took place during the war.

According to reports, Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment holdings recently asked a German company based in Kitwe uranium impact study. After an environmental and social impact study at the two Amco uranium dumps in Kitwe spending about EUR 500,000 on the project were found, this was to show the amount of dosage the community living near the dumps may had ingested so that remedial measures could be taken.

ZCCM IH said that after the conclusion of this study, we will be able to measure radiation levels coming from these uranium dumps and also the amount of dosage the community living near the sites may have inhaled.

Mining experts argue that if not properly managed, uranium products like radium and radom gas had an adverse impact on human health because they could cause cancer as well as damage kidneys once inhaled and ingested.

In Zambia, an estimated 550 people who lived near the uranium dumps had been resettled elsewhere after ZCCM IH discovered that their houses were developing menacing cracks while the ground on which the houses were built had started caving in due to the voids created. Mining of uranium, which a radioactive metal and used to make bombs started in the 1950s by AMCO workers who were employed to sink shafts for Mindolo mine in Kitwe.

(Filed by Mr Kapembwa Sinkamba SteelGuru Correspondent Zambia)