JORC-Compliant
Inferred Resource of �30 Mlbs� (13,600t) U3O8 Established
at Pecs Project,
Hungary
19th July 2007
International uranium developer, WildHorse
Energy Limited (ASX:WHE) is pleased to announce its first JORC-compliant
Inferred Mineral Resource at the Pecs uranium
project in southern Hungary.
WildHorse
has established an initial JORC-compliant Inferred Mineral Resource of 17.0
million tonnes @ 0.08%, for 30 million pounds
(13,600 tonnes) of U3O8, at a lower cut-off of 400ppm,
for the P�cs uranium deposits in southern Hungary.� The resource estimation has
been independently completed by RSG Global Consulting, a subsidiary company of
Coffey Mining.
WildHorse
CEO Richard Pearce said the results
were a major milestone for the Company and its shareholders.� “These
results are highly encouraging for the project and WildHorse’s strategy
to establish a major uranium producing company in Europe,”
Mr Pearce said.
Although
detailed studies will be needed to determine the economic and environmental
consequences of potential mining, these results provide the basis to move ahead
to the next stage.
The
resource area currently only covers a relatively small portion of
WildHorse’s project area and is based on the geological modeling
undertaken by RSG Global.� There is considerable potential to extend the
resource in all directions.� Work will commence as soon as possible, with targeted
drilling in and around existing historical drill holes which contained uranium mineralisation.�
As well as potentially increasing the size of the resource, this drilling will
be used to bring the status of this deposit to an indicated resource.
The
estimates are based on extensive historical drilling and radiometric and assay
data that has now been verifiedby
RSG Global, following QAQC procedure, and incorporated into new digital
databases. �Surpac software was used to construct wire frames and block grades
were estimated by ordinary kriging. �
The
Company’s previously stated objective was to report 45 million pounds of
JORC compliant uranium resource by November 2008.� As a result of this initial
success at P�cs and the likelihood that the resource will increase
significantly, together with the progress being made in Wyoming and elsewhere, WildHorse has
increased its targeted JORC uranium resource to 100Mlbs by the end of 2008.
For further
information and maps, see www.wildhorse.com.au
or contact:
Mr Richard
Pearce
|
Mr Mark
Hughes
|
Ryan
McKinlay
|
Managing Director
|
Chairman
|
Investor Relations
|
+61 8 9389 2010
|
+61 8 9389 2001
|
+61 8 9485 1254
|
�
The P�cs
Project
Overview
WildHorse’s P�cs
project is located in the western Mecsek
Mountains of southern Hungary, approximately 170km south-southwest of
the capital Budapest.�
The project is located immediately northwest of the city of P�cs which has a population of some 170,000.�
P�cs is an educational and industrial centre with a history of uranium and coal
mining.
The initial JORC
compliant inferred resource of 30 million pounds for the P�cs project is shown
in Figure 2 below.
|
Million Tonnes
|
% U3O8
|
ppm U3O8
|
lbs/t U3O8
|
Tonnes(Pounds) Contained U3O8
|
|
Inferred Resources Cut-off grade 400ppm
|
17
|
0.082
|
820
|
1.80
|
13,600 (30,000,000)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Figure 2: JORC compliant inferred
resource for Pecs
The
information in this report that relates to the Mineral Resource is based on
information compiled by Jan Pieter de Visser, who is a Member of The
Australasian Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy
and is employed by RSG Global Consulting Pty Ltd.� Mr De Visser has
sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of
deposit under consideration, and to the activity which he is undertaking
to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the 'Australasian
Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore
Reserves'.� Mr De Visser consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters
based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
The
P�cs Project comprises some 43km2 (10,600 acres) covering
extensively explored ground, with uranium mineralisation. �The Company has more
than tripled its project area since listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in
November 2006.�
WildHorse’s
project area is immediately adjacent to the former Mecsek uranium mine which
was operated by the state owned Mecsek Ore Mining Company (MOMC) prior to
closing in 1997 due to the depressed uranium price.� At the time of closure,
the spot uranium price was around US$10 to US$15 per pound, compared to the
spot price today of US$130 per pound.� The Mecsek mine produced some 46 million
pounds of uranium metal over a 50 year period.�
The
resource area currently only covers a relatively small portion of
WildHorse’s project area.� Based on the geological modeling undertaken by
RSG Global, there is considerable potential to extend the total resource in all
directions with targeted drilling in and around existing historical drill
holes.� This potential to increase resources is in zones with incomplete
information relating to earlier drill programs, and gaps in previous drilling
patterns.
The
Company’s project area includes 62 parent holes for 74,301 metres, 61
wedge holes for 26,323 metres and 5 twin holes for 7,258 metres.�
Geology
The
Pecs project is situated in the western Mecsek Mountains,
which comprise a series of Permian to Jurassic sediments overlying a Cambrian
granitic-migmatic basement. �The basement and overlying sedimentary sequence
occur as a dome, the result of regional tectonism during the Austrian orogeny
(Cretaceous).� The overlying sediments outcrop as an east-west trending
anticline, with the sediments enveloping an unexposed basement core. Deep
drilling (>1,000m) has intersected the Cambrian basement, while isolated outcrops
exist near the Dinnyeberki Project.� The geological setting represents a
remnant foreland setting with sequences of Permian to Jurassic sandstone,
conglomerate and limestone-dolomite overlain by younger Cretaceous basalt and
Miocene to Pleistocene sediments.
Uranium mineralisation is located within Upper
Permian sandstones of the K�v�g�sz�l�s Formation, between the reduced
K�v�g�sz�l�s Sandstone and the oxidised Cserk�t Sandstone, the same
stratigraphic horizon that hosts the Mecsek deposit.� MOMC named the
stratigraphy hosting the ore bearing horizon the ‘productive
formation’, which varies in thickness between 5m and 120m.� Within the
productive formation, the mineralised lenses vary in thickness from <0.5m to
5m, with an average thickness of 1m.� Ore
lenses along the redox front generally form amoeboid shapes, with more uniform
mineralisation occurring along faults and fractures.� The horizon is offset by
late normal faulting, resulting in the ore horizon being displaced.� There is
strong consistency between the Company’s project area and the area
previously mined by MOMC.
Mineralisation occurs in six
different styles including:
�
banded bedding parallel;
�
replacement of microbedding;
�
replacement of fossilised organic/plant matter;
�
mottled-disseminated; and
� fracture/fault hosted.
Based on the known depth of mineralisation in the
former Mecsek mine, it is likely that the ‘productive formation’
occurs at a depth of between 500m and 1000m to the east, while to the north
depths are likely to exceed 1200m, below surface.
The main ore minerals are uranium oxides
uraninite, coffinite and pitchblende, with samples from drilling and
underground mining returning values of between 0.03% to 3.0% U, with an average
grade in the order of 0.11% to 0.12% U.
Description of modelling
This resource estimate is based on interpretation
of geological observations derived from historical drilling.� Uranium
mineralisation occurs within and adjacent to the main sandstone unit which was
targeted by previous mining at the Mecsek mine.� The mineralisation is located
at a depth of approximately 600m to 1,200m below surface.
Drilling coverage varies from 160m to 400m but
most drill holes have one to several, closely spaced wedge holes.� A total of 40
diamond core holes and associated wedge holes have been used in the
estimation.� Additional, drilling is available for the northern part of the
area, but has been excluded from the resource as they are too widely spaced.
U3O8 grade is based on
historical down-hole geophysical radiometrics, both continuous and point
measurements.� The grade has been estimated by the calibration against XRF
assays of core samples collected from adjacent, and partially mined, areas in
the same geological setting.
Significant intercepts of more than 0.5m wide and
above 200ppm U3O8 have been accumulated for each drill
hole intersection.� This approach was necessitated by the occurrence of
multiple mineralised bodies internal to the host horizon.� The total width of
mineralised material was also recorded against the width of the host horizon.�
Statistical analyses on the accumulated
composites, were completed and outliers reduced where appropriate.� Variography
and search neighbourhood analysis were also conducted as input into the grade
estimation.
The grade estimation method used was Block
Ordinary Kriging.� Both the accumulated composites and their total width were
interpolated followed by back calculation of the block grade.� Resource tonnage
and grade were reported taking the local proportion of mineralised material
into account.
Estimates of dry insitu bulk density are based on
production records from the nearby former Mecsek uranium mine.� The average dry
insitu bulk density used for the resource estimate is 2.5t/m3.�
Resource classification was developed from the
confidence levels of key criteria including drilling method, geological
understanding and interpretation, grade analysis, data density and location,
grade estimation and quality.�
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