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- Uranium developer Deep Yellow (DYL) has reported an incredible 96.4 per cent conversion of inferred to indicated resource at its Tumas 3 deposit
- A three-month program of infill reverse circulation drilling at the central zone of the deposit was aimed at upgrading the mineral resource estimate
- The maiden indicated mineral resource now stands at 24.1 million pounds (Mlb) at 313 parts per million (ppm) eU3O8 using a 200ppm cutoff
- The drill program also identified a further 3.7Mlb of inferred resources in the same — also a substantial upgrade
- Deep Yellow now considers the Tumas paleochannel to be ripe for further exploration, with the possibility of increasing the total measured, indicated and inferred resource base as high as 150Mlb
- Deep Yellow closed Tuesday’s session two per cent green at 25.5 cents per share
Uranium developer Deep Yellow (DYL) has reported an incredible 96.4 per cent conversion of inferred to indicated resource at its Tumas 3 deposit in Namibia.
A three-month program of infill reverse circulation drilling covering the central zone of the Tumas 3 deposit was aimed at upgrading the mineral resource estimate.
To say the 246-hole, 5154-metre program delivered would be something of an understatement.
The numbers
At the start of the program, the targeted area contained around 25 million pounds (Mlb) of inferred resources grading 381 parts per million (ppm) eU3O8 using a 200ppm cut off.
eU3O8 refers to the equivalent U3O8 grade estimated from downhole gamma logging.
The infill program was aimed at upgrading around half the inferred amount to indicated — an upgrade considered sufficient for the purposes of the Tumas 3 pre-feasibility study (PFS) which is currently underway.
Instead, the maiden indicated mineral resource now stands at 24.1Mlb at 313ppm eU3O8 using a 200ppm cut-off.
The drill program also identified a further 3.7Mlb of inferred resources in the same area — meaning the total inferred resources for Tumas 3 also had a serious upgrade.
Deep Yellow Managing Director John Borshoff says the upgrade is exceptional.
“The resultant MRE upgrade just completed from infill drilling of the central part of the Tumas 3 deposit has been nothing short of astounding,” John noted.
“We have achieved an almost 100 per cent conversion rate from inferred resource status to indicated, whilst also growing the resource base.”
Deep Yellow Managing Director John Borshoff
The total inferred resource is now 12.7Mlb at 358ppm eU3O8, for a total of indicated and inferred resources of 36.8Mlb — marking an improvement to both the quantity and quality of the resource.
The upgrade at Tumas 3 has almost tripled the overall indicated and measured resource base for the Tumas channel, from 13.1Mlb to 37.2Mlb eU3O8.
The total measured, indicated and inferred resources for the project are now 96.2Mlb at 292ppm eU308 – with further exploration upside through the 40 per cent of the Tumas paleochannel yet to be tested.
Next steps
Deep Yellow now considers the Tumas paleochannel to be ripe for further exploration – with the possibility of increasing the resource base as high as 150Mlb of U3O8 in the 300 to 500ppm range.
There are as yet 50 kilometres of channels yet to be tested.
Deep Yellow will continue its programs of infill and extension drilling with great hopes of further success similar to Tumas 3.
John Borshoff is optimistic about things to come at Tumas.
“The Tumas palaeochannel holds a further 55Mlb of uranium in the inferred resource category available for future upgrading to indicated resource status,” he said.
“The results, as currently announced, provide great confidence that we will have a resource base much larger than that currently being modelled in the Tumas PFS and augers very well for the broader future of this project.”
Deep Yellow Managing Director John BorshoffD
Deep Yellow closed Tuesday’s session two per cent green at 25.5 cents per share.
