Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) is preparing for the in-situ recovery (ISR) field recovery trial (FRT) at the Blackbush deposit within the Samphire Uranium Project in South Australia.
Ahead of the trial, the company has begun a ground gravity survey at Samphire to delineate the palaeochannel system south of the known Samphire Uranium deposits Blackbush and Plumbush.
The $239.46 million market capitalisation company says this is the first work Alligator is undertaking on this tenement.
The company reports fabrication of the FRT processing plant in Adelaide is ‘essentially’ complete, with modules undergoing factory acceptance testing prior to being transported to Whyalla ahead of securing the necessary approvals to conduct the trial.
Alligator has recently provided the Department of Energy and Mining a formal response to matters that arose from the public and government departmental consultation on the retention lease proposal for the FRT.
The review is expected to take 6 to 8 weeks. Once granted, a program for environmental protection and rehabilitation (PEPR) will be submitted.
Approval of the PEPR is the final step in the regulatory process to begin on-site construction of the FRT infrastructure. Construction and commissioning plans are already underway.
Meanwhile at Blackbush, drilling on a rotation basis to the west, northeast, and south of the current mineral resource envelope continues to identify potential extensions to the uranium roll-front system.
Drilling has been ongoing since 29 January 2024, with 30 holes drilled to date, and is expected to continue through mid-April when a 4 to 6 week break will be taken to facilitate pastoral activities.
Alligator expects drilling to restart by mid to late May and will continue to the end of the year when a full JORC compliant mineral resource update will be undertaken.
The company’s Samphire project sits about 20km south of the township of Whyalla in regional South Australia and was acquired by Alligator in 2020.
As of December 2023, Alligator Energy had $36.514 million in cash and cash equivalents, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Alligator Energy
