Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) has completed its Samphire field recovery trial at the Blackbush deposit in South Australia, demonstrating in situ recovery (ISR) performance across two materially different settings.
Pattern one achieved approximately 70% uranium recovery at around 70 pore volume exchanges (PVEs), with an average extraction grade of 115 milligrams per litre of uranium oxide (U3O8) and peak flow rates up to 5 litres per second.
The company says the pattern is “materially representative” of the conditions underpinning the Samphire Feasibility Study, making it a ‘reasonable’ basis for planning and assessing future commercial wellfields.
It also validated key assumptions from Alligator’s December 2023 Scoping Study.
Meanwhile, pattern two, which tested medium- to lower-grade areas, operated for 54 days and completed 15 PVEs to achieve 17% cumulative uranium recovery.
Alligator says recovery is consistent with pattern one behaviour, confirming ISR mining is feasible across all geological units within Blackbush.
Ion exchange captured approximately 98% of uranium from pattern one and 100% from pattern two, while sulphuric acid consumption remained at roughly 20kg per tonne of ore across both patterns.
CEO Andrea Marsland-Smith says the completion of the field recovery trial is another important technical and commercial milestone for Alligator.
“The trial has achieved exactly what it was designed to do, which was to reduce uncertainty around wellfield design, production scheduling, and process assumptions; improve our understanding of the conditions expected during production; and provide the information required to optimise and complete the engineering design for the Feasibility Study,” Marsland-Smith says.
The company notes results and learnings will inform Feasibility Study design criteria and wellfield planning, with completion targeted by mid-2027.
Mineralisation extended at Blackbush
Concurrently, drilling from a 300-hole program has extended uranium mineralisation 600m south of Blackbush onto the Mullaquana Crown Lease as part of the Samphire resource growth program.
Key intersections from the southern extension include 5m @ 0.13% equivalent uranium oxide (eU3O8) from 63.6m, and 3.2m @ 0.12% eU3O8 from 54.6m.
“These early results are an encouraging start to our Samphire growth program and demonstrate the strategic importance of securing access to the Mullaquana Crown Lease,” Marsland-Smith says.
“Intersecting uranium mineralisation approximately 600m further south of previous drilling expands the area available for systematic evaluation, while the closer-spaced work within Plumbush is strengthening the geological dataset for the Feasibility Study.”
Alligator says it has completed an additional 108 delineation holes within Blackbush on a 25m by 25m spacing, noting that results to date are consistent with the current resource model.
Infill drilling has also kicked off at Plumbush, aiming to test the 5km Blackbush-Plumbush corridor and convert the inferred Plumbush mineral resource to the indicated category.
With drilling expected to continue until late Q4, Alligator has transitioned to continuous day shift drilling with two rigs to complete the program.
The company also continues to advance workstreams supporting the Samphire Feasibility Study, as well as the mineral resource update planned for Q1 or Q2 next year.
Alligator Energy is a uranium and energy metals explorer and developer focused on its flagship Samphire Project in South Australia.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Alligator Energy
