Piche Resources Commences Drilling Program at Ashburton Uranium Project in Western Australia
Jane Morgan Management
Perth, Australia – 16 September 2024 | Piche Resources Ltd (ASX: PR2) (“Piche” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce the commencement of a reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at its highly prospective Ashburton Uranium Project in Western Australia. The drilling campaign is targeting uranium mineralisation at the Angelo prospect, with a diamond drill rig scheduled to arrive later in the month.
Highlights:
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Drilling Commenced: A reverse circulation drill rig has started mobilisation to the Angelo prospect, marking the start of an exploration program at the Ashburton Project. A diamond drill rig will arrive later in September 2024.
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Targeting High-Grade Uranium: Drilling will focus on Proterozoic unconformity-style uranium mineralisation, which is similar to world-class deposits in the Pine Creek Geosyncline (Australia) and the Athabasca Basin (Canada).
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Historical High-Grade Intersections: The program is designed to confirm historical high-grade uranium results, including significant intercepts such as:
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10.5m @ 4,380 ppm U₃O₈ from 105.0 meters (AR1004)
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9.0m @ 3,490 ppm U₃O₈ from 75.5 meters (AR1009)
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5.9m @ 3,300 ppm U₃O₈ from 119.0 meters (AR1028B)
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7.9m @ 2,530 ppm U₃O₈ from 95.0 meters (AR1032)
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Exploration Focus: The drilling will test the Angelo A & B zones and explore extensions to the known mineralisation using a revised model.
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Additional Minerals: Rare earth elements and critical metals have also been identified in the target area at the site, offering further exploration potential in future.
Stephen Mann, Managing Director of Piche Resources, commented: “This project area is one of the most exciting unconformity uranium targets outside the Pine Creek Geosyncline in the Northern Territory and the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan Basin in Canada, two of the truly great uranium provinces in the world. Previous exploration has demonstrated that this area has all the most favourable attributes of both provinces. Additionally, historical results have highlighted the presence of high-grade uranium mineralisation in several areas within the project.
A regional review of the uranium mineralisation previously identified in the area, including geophysics (radiometrics, magnetics, electromagnetics), mapping and geochemistry suggest that the controls of the mineralisation may have been misinterpreted by previous explorers, and there remains considerable potential for the area to host very large, high-grade zones of uranium mineralisation. Piche’s focus on this upcoming drill programme will be to confirm historical drill results, and to test the revised structural model for the controls of uranium mineralisation. We currently have a programme of 2000m of reverse circulation and 1500m of diamond drilling planned, and follow-up drill programmes are already envisioned.
As each drill hole is completed it will be surveyed using a downhole gamma probe which will calculate an equivalent U3O8 concentration (eU3O8) based on the downhole gamma response. This technique is commonly used in uranium exploration and allows an early news flow of drill hole results. Drill core and drill chips [will] be assayed as checks, but the downhole gamma logging generally provides accurate eU3O8 grades and thicknesses. Consequently, Piche expects the first drill hole results will be available approximately two weeks after the drilling commences.
We are also pleased to have successfully recently completed a Heritage Survey with the registered Native Title party.”
Next Steps:
The drilling program is expected to deliver initial results within two weeks of commencement, with downhole gamma logging to calculate equivalent U₃O₈ concentrations (eU₃O₈).
Follow-up drilling programs are already being planned, depending on the outcomes of the initial exploration program.
For further information, please contact:
John (Gus) Simpson
Executive Chairman
Piche Resources Limited
info@piche.com.au
About us:
About Piche Resources Limited:
Piche Resources Limited is an Australia-based junior exploration company, which focuses on exploring for uranium, precious metals and other critical metals mineralization in Western Australia and Argentina. Its Australian assets comprise seven granted exploration licenses in Western Australia, covering four projects: Ashburton, Gascoyne-Minindi, Abydos, and Beasley Creek. Its principal Argentinian assets cover two projects, Sierra Cuadrada and Cerro Chacon, comprising 10 granted mining concessions and 18 applications for mining concessions. The Ashburton project is located approximately 80km southeast of Paraburdoo. The Abydos Project is located approximately 130 km south-southeast of Port Hedland. The Sierra Cuadrada Project is situated on the northern slope of the Sierra Cuadrada Mountain range of Chubut Province. The Cerro Chacon Project is situated in the Cajon de Ginebra and Lonco Trapial ranges, in the municipal departments of Paso de Indios and Tehuelches, Chubut Province.
Contact details:
Jane Morgan
Jane Morgan Management
Investor & Media Relations
jm@janemorganmanagement.com