Marmota Limited (ASX:MEU) has announced that it has acquired the Junction Dam uranium tenement EL6530 in South Australia, directly adjacent to Boss Energy’s (ASX: BOE) Honeymoon uranium mine.
The tenement was purchased from a consortium including Teck Australia, Eaglehawk Geological Consulting and Variscan Mines in a deal which provides a 5% net profit royalty on future production to the previous tenement holders. Marmota reports that the deal has received ministerial consent, and the transfer has been successfully completed.
“The acquisition of the Junction Dam tenement makes Marmota, for the first time, masters of our own destiny in the uranium space”
Addressing the news, Marmota Chairman Dr Colin Rose said “The Company is extremely fortunate to still have these assets, and I find it enormously exciting to be returning to our origins in the uranium space. The acquisition of the Junction Dam tenement makes Marmota, for the first time, masters of our own destiny in the uranium space. It is the first and critical step for the company to realise value of this outstanding asset for our shareholders.”
Marmota, which was initially a uranium explorer, had previously spent over $8 million on development at EL6530, and had earned 100% of uranium rights on the tenement.
Following the Fukushima disaster, work stopped on the project in 2014. Uranium prices and market sentiment have improved substantially in recent months, though prices still sit well below previous highs.
Map of the Junction Dam tenement, displaying proximity to the Boss Honeymoon Uranium Mine and Yarramba Palaeochannel. Image: Marmota LimitedThe EL6530 tenement book-ends both sides of the Yarramba Palaeochannel that runs through Boss’ Honeymoon Uranium Mine, one of only four permitted plants in Australia, and also holds an un-drilled ‘obvious high-priority’ target, directly adjacent to the north.
Marmota already sits on a ‘substantial’ uranium JORC resource at Junction Dam of 5.4 million pounds U3O8 to the east at Saffron, with average grades of 557 ppm U3O8 and assay grades of up to 8,143ppm U3O8.
