Okapi rock chips unveil fresh uranium drill targets

ASX-listed Okapi Resources has wrapped up its maiden field exploration program at its Newnham Lake and Perch projects in Canada, returning anomalous uranium in over half its 69-piece rock chip samples and highlighting several compelling drill targets.

According to the company, the best result graded 265 parts per million triuranium octoxide prompting the explorer to up the ante with a pair of new year drill campaigns.

The feature result was courtesy of a rock chip bagged up at the Perch project, while the most notable sample from Newnham Lake returned a grade of 23 ppm triuranium octoxide.

Completed work at the projects form part of a more extensive summer exploration program focusing on regional areas around the boundary of the company’s Athabasca Basin tenements. The campaign aimed to identify zones associated with basement faulting and hydrothermal alteration – features that could lead to a potential uranium honey pot.

Okapi’s activities included prospecting, ground radiometric, outcrop and boulder sampling.

Management says it has also integrated its new data with information from earlier satellite analysis programs to identify several structures deemed favourable for uranium mineralisation

The targets will subsequently be drill tested in a follow-up campaign.

Okapi Resources Managing Director, Andrew Ferrier said:“The results confirm the Newnham Lake and Perch Projects contain our highest priority targets, with the recently completed program identifying favourable structural scenarios suitable for hosting uranium mineralisation. Okapi is now working towards drilling these compelling targets in 2023.”

Importantly, the company says both assets could host a world-class uranium deposit – a theory that is underlined by legacy drill hits.

Shallow historical work at Newnham Lake and Perch has thrown up a suite of dazzling results grading up to 2000 ppm triuranium octoxide.

Okapi spent the last year or so accumulating an armoury of highly prospective uranium plays in North America, which outside of its Canadian assets, including the Tallahassee and Maybell projects in Colorado and the Rattler operation in Utah.

Rattler is one of the company’s most revered assets and encompasses the namesake historical mine that churned out 1.6 million pounds of triuranium octoxide at a grade of 2800 ppm.

Currently being traded at around US$49 per pound, a recent study by financial services provider BMO Capital Markets suggests the long-term price of uranium could rise to US$58 per pound amid ongoing unrest in Eastern Europe, a major provider of the material.

With global economies moving at speed towards low-carbon energy solutions, the ongoing debate around the use of nuclear energy will continue to linger. As it does, operations such as Okapi’s will continue to command the attention of future-focused punters.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au