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Uranium project progresses to leach trials on SA / NSW border

New testwork has boosted the prospects for high rates of uranium recovery at the advanced Junction Dam project in South Australia just west of Broken Hill on the border with New South Wales.

Developer and 87% owner, Marmota Energy Limited last week announced that new analysis of sonic cored holes drilled by the Company earlier this year into Junction Dam’s flagship Saffron deposit, showed that only 2% of the deposit’s uranium mineralisation appeared to be locked in the project’s grain structures.

Marmota’s Senior Project Geologist, Mr Daniel Gray, said that result effectively means that 98% of the Saffron deposit’s uranium is available for leaching.

The tests, known as the QEMSCAN analysis method, also re-confirmed that the drillhole samples were composed primarily of the favoured uranium mineralisation types, uraninite and autinite – results comparable to Marmota’s sampling work elsewhere at Saffron.

“Further tests over the current half year are expected to confirm the ease of leachability at Saffron but to have such a high percentage of the mineralisation not locked within grains is a very positive outcome,” Mr Gray said.

Marmota is also pushing ahead to complete work needed to secure a Retention Lease for the Saffron deposit.

The lease sets the regulatory approvals allowing Marmota to move Junction Dam to its first field leach trials next year.

The Retention Lease (RL) works include baseline investigations of flora and fauna, groundwater conditions, including aquifer conditions such as water quality, flow direction and modelling of potential impacts, noise and air quality impacts, storage and use of dangerous substances, surface water management and stakeholder engagement.

Water bore permits for groundwater monitoring have already been obtained by Marmota.

Junction Dam is just 10 kilometres from the operating Honeymoon ISL uranium mine.

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