Northern Luangwa Valley Project
The Northern Luangwa Valley project comprises two Prospecting Licences (Matonda and Mulipo) that are wholly owned by African Energy. Limited exploration for uranium was undertaken in this area by the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation of Japan (PNC) in the mid 1970's, highlighting several areas of interest.
African Energy has evaluated this project through a series of detailed airborne radiometric surveys completed in December 2006 and October 2007. Reconnaissance evaluation in April 2008 confirmed the presence of Karoo-aged sediments at a number of these anomalies, the most significant of which occurs approximately 5km north of the village of Sitwe in the Mulipo prospecting licence.
Field evaluation of the Sitwe airborne radiometric anomaly indicates that there is a close spatial association between the anomaly and shallow-dipping inter-bedded fine sandstones and siltstones over a strike-length of approximately 8km. A programme of geochemical soil sampling (400 metres by 50 metres sample spacing) was completed over the southern half of the primary target, and a further two lines were completed over a secondary target 2km to the west.
Assay results from the RS-125 spectrometer were very encouraging, with anomalous assay values highlighting an elongated zone of uranium anomalism corresponding to silty sediments within an inter-bedded siltstone-sandstone association. A peak value of 66ppm eU was recorded (equivalent to 78 ppm U3O8). The anomaly remains open to the north where the airborne radiometric target extends for a further 4km.
Additional geochemical soil sampling is required to cover the northern extent of the airborne radiometric target and provide detailed infill for the entire target.