Mr Alex Gostevskikh recounts the epic story of Mr Charles Fipke and Mr Stewart Blusson when describing his own quest to find Uranium roll front deposits in Tanzania’s Luwega Basin.
The two hardy explorers were down to their last tin of beans as they prospected for diamonds in Canada’s polar reaches. They had staked their money and professional reputations on an assertion, based on nothing more than geological theory that the Lac de Gras region should be among the world’s great diamond regions.
Of course history tells us the area is now home to the giant EKATI mine, in which the pair each has 10% stake and of course the giant Mr Diavik kimberlite nearby.
Now Mr Gostevskikh isn’t down to his last rations, far from it. But he and the Uranium Resources team have made the same, giant leap of faith in proving the existence of roll fronts in this particular area of Tanzania. And in doing so they are hoping to find deposits similar to the monsters in Kazakhstan.
For the uninitiated, roll fronts are sandstone hosted, crescent shaped bodies. They are formed when Uranium mobilized in water is deposited and then precipitated. It creates a build up called a front.
Sinuous in nature and multi-layered, they are very difficult to locate. Prime examples are the Inkai deposit in Kazakhstan and Smith Ranch in Wyoming. They can be exploited using a process called in situ recovery where a solution is pumped into the ground and reemerges pregnant with Uranium. It is far cheaper than alternatives means of exploiting Uranium, while the environmental impact is minimal.
For Uranium Resources, 2010 was a breakthrough year in which exploratory drilling on its Mtonya licence supported Mr Gostevskikh’s thesis about the Luwega Basin and its capacity to host these roll fronts. The fact that Mtonya butts up against the 119 million pound Nyota Uranium deposit was a big clue.
However the work piecing together a coherent understanding of the area, which included using third party seismic studies, suggests that Nyota is a surface remnant of what lies below.
Last year 27 holes were sunk for a total of just short of 8,000 meters. This followed 11 holes in 2010 for 4,170 meters. The scout drilling concentrated on 3 by 3 kilometer area which remains open along strike and at depth.
Mr Alex Gostevskikh MD of Uranium Resources said that the first 11 holes eliminated the psycho factor from the quest to find these roll fronts. We proved the geology. This was a brain conceived model and the only piece of hard science was the seismic, which was done 100 kilometers to the north.
Mr Gostevskikh said that “From 11 holes we projected where we should strike Uranium. And with the very first hole we struck it. We have not yet hit the scale. But the evidence is there. We are transforming the way people look for these deposits. There is Uranium on surface we know it is Uranium country. What we did was make this quantum leap from having Uranium on surface to an idea we can find Kazakh style deposits below. Okay, they may be smaller Kazakhstan type deposits.”
(Sourced from www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk)
