SX- listed Lotus Resources, which has a mining licence for the mothballed Kayelekera Uranium Mine in Karonga, has announced the commencement of exploration drilling at its newly acquired Livingstonia Tenement and regional prospects in Malawi.
The Livingstonia tenement in Rumphi District has the potential to become a satellite operation from which material could be transported to the Company’s flagship Kayelekera Uranium facility in Karonga.
Lotus acquired the new exploration licenses of Livingstonia as an opportunity to extend the life-of-mine through exploration success and also increase its focus of operating at Kayelekera for longer than 10 years.
Lotus Managing Director Keith Bowes says in a Press Statement that the drilling program of a 30-hole reverse circulation, was designed to convert the historic resource JORC 2004 into a JORC 2012 resource and test potential high-grade extensions.
Bowes also says through the program, multiple greenfield targets are being considered, including the untested Chilumba prospect where a major radiometric anomaly has been identified.
He says: “To be on the ground just over a month after receiving our Livingstonia exploration licences is an excellent result and testament to our team in Malawi.
“The prospectivity at Livingstonia, and in the surrounding area, is outstanding and we believe the area has the potential to become a satellite deposit for the Company in the future, feeding our Kayelekera processing facility.”
“The aim of this exploration program is threefold. Firstly, to convert the historic resource at Livingstonia to a JORC 2012 resource; secondly, to test the multiple extensions around the Livingstonia resource that have been poorly tested; and finally, to test a number of greenfield targets, including the Chilumba prospect, that has a major radiometric anomaly and has never been drill tested.”
Lotus commenced consolidation of this prospective region in 2021, and the drilling program is the first uranium exploration to be undertaken in the area in more than a decade.
The project is still very much in an early exploration phase with the planned work program consisting of an RC drilling program totaling 30 drill holes for approximately 4,000m, consisting of: 6 holes within the historical resource boundary as part of the QAQC process align with JORC 2012; 14 holes targeting extensional opportunities that will target resource growth; and 10 holes to follow up on anomalies that may be used as future targeting, including four holes that will be drilled at the Chilumba prospect located 10 km from Livingstonia
On the assay results from the Kayelekera uranium and Milenje rare earth exploration programs completed in October, Bowes says that the samples are still being processed at the laboratories in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Livingstonia uranium exploration tenements are located in Northern Malawi, approximately 90km southeast of the Company’s Kayelekera Uranium Mine and when combined with the Chilumba Project, this region covers 300km2.
Since taking over Kayelekera from Paladin Energy Limited in March 2020, Lotus completed a positive Re-Start study in October 2020 that confirmed the viability of the project based on a US$65/lb uranium price (current price US$46/lb).
Recently, Lotus commenced a Feasibility Study at Kayelekera Mine that will be completed by mid – 2022 to improve on the accuracy and incorporate the new ideas.
The study will target a project producing 2.5 to 3Mlbs U308 per annum for more than 10 years.
Lotus has proposed changes for the Project compared to the previous operation including: improved options around power supply; ore sorting technology; acid recovery and leach optimization and; tailings dam improvements.
The Kayelekera Uranium Mine will be kept in Care and Maintenance until Lotus completes studies and the uranium price has recovered to required levels for restart.
