Kariba Valley Joint Venture Project
The Kariba Valley joint venture project is another joint venture with Albidon Exploration Limited, and contains the high-priority Chisebuka and Namakande prospects. The Kariba Valley joint venture project is approximately 250km from Lusaka by road, and occurs 50km to the southwest of Denison Mines' tenement that contains the Dibwe and Mutanga uranium deposits. African Energy can earn up to a 70% interest in this project by completing a prefeasibility study and delivering an Indicated resource.
The Kariba Valley JV tenements occur within economic trucking radius of the proposed Njame uranium processing facility near Chirundu and thus forms an important and integral part of African Energy's resource expansion plans for southern Zambia.
To date, African Energy has undertaken programmes of ground radiometric surveys, geochemical soil and rock-chip sampling and reverse circulation percussion drilling at three prospects; Munyumbwe, Chisebuka, and Namakande. Encouraging results have been obtained from exploration at Chisebuka and Namakande with significant uranium mineralisation observed at both prospects. A major exploration initiative has commenced on these areas to identify resources suitable for mining operations to feed into the Njame processing facility.
Namakande and Chisebuka Prospects
The Namakande and Chisebuka prospect areas occur in the northern part of the Kariba Valley JV and are defined by a series of elongated ground radiometric anomalies along a total strike length in excess of 40km. Previous exploration by African Energy includes geochemical soil and rock-chip sampling and very limited reverse circulation percussion drilling at both prospects. Ore grades have been encountered in drilling at Chisebuka (e.g. 7m @ 445 ppm U3O8 from 11m depth and 7m @ 465 ppm U3O8 from 57m).
Field evaluation of the Namakande prospects commenced in late August 2009 and included geological mapping and an assessment of uranium content of the soils on a 400m x 25m grid pattern. The uranium content in soils was established at each grid point using a calibrated RS-125 spectrometer in assay mode. Initial results are very encouraging, and the sampling has identified coherent anomalism at three main locations within Target Areas A, B and C. The largest anomaly measures approximately 2.2km in length and the total strike length of prospective stratigraphy is in excess of 10km.
At Target Area A the peak value of 292 ppm U was recorded by the RS-125 spectrometer, which is the equivalent of 345 ppm U3O8. The anomaly at Target Area B was also well defined by the spectrometer sampling, with a peak value of 93 ppm U, corresponding to 110 ppm eU3O8. Previous soil sampling in this area showed a maximum of 392 ppm U3O8. Geological mapping indicates that the anomalies in Target Areas A and B are the same package of sedimentary rocks, transacted by a fault.
Target Area C contains numerous high-level anomalous results. Outcropping sandstones recorded a peak value of 384 ppm U, equivalent to 453 ppm U3O8. Previous soil sampling in this area returned high-grade assay up to 1,150 ppm U3O8. The strike extent of the anomaly at Target C is approximately 2.2km and like the other anomalies, mineralisation is associated with prospective lithological horizons which can be traced by geological mapping.
Geochemical sampling and geological mapping is continuing on Target Areas D, E and F. Geological interpretation suggests that rock exposures in these areas are uplifted fault repetitions of the anomalous stratigraphy tested to-date. Consequently the Company is confident that additional soil geochemical anomalies will be identified.