Noble Plains Uranium (TSX-V:NOBL) has completed digitisation of historical drill data at its Shirley Central Project in Wyoming.
The company used artificial intelligence-powered computer vision to process 1,211 historical drill holes acquired from Ur-Energy (TSX:URE), identifying 341 uranium intercepts to guide upcoming confirmation drilling.
This program converted decades-old files and scanned gamma logs into a modern geological model.
The digitised dataset has informed placement of seven confirmation drill holes designed to advance Shirley Central toward a potential mineral resource.
“At Duck Creek, we proved that historical drilling can be converted into a compliant, scalable resource faster and more economically than starting from scratch,” CEO Drew Zimmerman says.
“At Shirley Central, we are aiming to do it again with over 1,200 historical drill holes, data that would have cost in excess of US$6 million [$8.6 million] to generate through new drilling alone.”
The Shirley Central Property consists of 30 mineral claims covering 665 acres directly adjacent to Ur-Energy’s producing Shirley mine.
Noble Plains acquired the raw historical drill data from Ur-Energy, though the dataset existed only as old, scanned gamma logs unusable in modern resource-estimation workflows.
NOBL engaged Geomorphic AI to systematically extract, standardise, and analyse the full 1,211-hole dataset. The dataset accurately extracted gamma-ray traces across multiple historical log formats and converted CPS readings into estimated uranium oxide grades.
Of the 1,211 historical holes reviewed, 341 intercepts qualified above a cut-off grade of 0.02% equivalent uranium oxide (eU3O8) and a minimum thickness of two feet.
These intercepts average 0.055% eU3O8 over an average thickness of 13.7ft (4.17m), with more than 57% returning grades above 0.05% eU3O8.
Standout results include a 4ft (1.2m) intercept grading 0.58% eU3O8 from 185–189ft (56.4–57.6m) in hole TX-2763, and a 6.3ft (1.9m) intercept, grading 0.53% eU3O8 from 448.6–454.9ft (136.7–138.7m) in hole SX-683.
The company has selected seven drill locations for a confirmation program focused on two prospective intercept clusters characterised by nose features associated with ‘higher-grade’ uranium accumulation.
The targeted approach mirrors the strategy that delivered a 90% hit rate across Noble Plains’ 148-hole confirmation programme at Duck Creek.
Shirley Central sits between Ur-Energy’s Shirley Basin in-situ recovery project, which hosts a measured and indicated resource of 8.816Mlb eU3O8 at 0.23%, and Uranium Energy’s operations.
Ur-Energy has commenced full-scale uranium production operations at Shirley Basin.
Noble Plains Uranium is a Wyoming-focused uranium explorer advancing the Shirley Central project adjacent to Ur-Energy’s producing Shirley mine.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Noble Plains Uranium
