Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) is hoping to deliver an upgraded ore reserve at its Tumas 3 deposit in Namibia through a program scheduled to begin on 21 February 2024.
The $1.13 billion market capitalisation company says drilling is designed to establish 7 years of proven reserves within Tumas 3 for mine rescheduling taking from the 67.3 million pound of probable reserves currently defined for the greater Tumas Project.
The program involves 13,000m of RC and 350m of diamond core drilling and will also support the debt financing effort.
Diamond drilling in particular will aim at obtaining sufficient quality samples for density determinations required for the reserve re-estimation.
The ore reserve status upgrade is required to enable the definition of sufficient proven mineral reserves for the 7 years of operation and to allow detailed mine scheduling to begin.
Drilling is expected to take up to 15 weeks to complete with assays expected by April 2024. The updated ore reserve for Tumas 3 is expected to be delivered by July this year.
According to Deep Yellow, Tumas 3 is the largest uranium deposit along the Tumas palaeodrainage which, together with Tumas 1, 1 East, Tumas 2, and Tubas deposits, contains 25.1 million pounds (Mlbs) of U3O8 inferred and 108.5Mlb of U3O8 indicated resources, of which 67.3Mlb U3O8 area contained in a probable ore reserve.
Deep Yellow is pursuing a dual-pillar growth strategy to establish a diversified, tier one uranium company to produce 10 plus million pounds of uranium per annum.
The company says its portfolio contains the largest uranium resource base of any ASX-listed company and its projects provide geographic and development diversity. Its assets include the flagship Tumas project in Namibia, and the MRP Project in Western Australia.
As of 30 December 2023, Deep Yellow had $25.248 million cash at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Deep Yellow
