MINERAL RESOURCE AT LETHLAKANE URANIUM PROJECT GROWS TO 261 Mlbs U3O8
A-Cap Resources Limited (“A-Cap” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has increased the resource at its Letlhakane Uranium Project in Botswana from 158Mlbs to 261Mlbs - an increase of 65%. With this upgrade in resource, Letlhakane is now one of the largest undeveloped uranium deposits in the world. The updated Global Mineral Resource completed by an Independent expert and reported in compliance with the JORC code now stands at:
780 Mt at 152ppm U3O8 for a contained 261 Mlbs of U3O8 (100ppm cut-off)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Resource upgrade represents a global resource growth of 65% in contained uranium at Letlhakane since the last reported resource upgrade in November 2009
- Volume of material classified under the JORC category as Indicated Mineral Resource is now 221Mt @153 ppm for 74.7 Mlbs - a 49% increase
- Mineralisation remains open along the western boundary of the resource area indicating that additional resource growth is highly likely with further exploration
- The updated Resource will be used to produce estimates of the mine plan including operating and capital costs for the project
- Botswana remains an excellent jurisdiction for mining investment with transparent laws and excellent infrastructure.
Commenting on the Resource upgrade, A-Cap Managing Director, Dr. Andrew Tunks said, “This is a fantastic result for A-Cap and is testament to the hard work from our teams both on the ground in Botswana and here in Australia. Our exploration program is ongoing and we believe that real potential exists for us to grow this Mineral Resource further.
“The recent tragic events in Fukishima Japan have dented the faith of some in the investment community in regards to nuclear technology. However with recent statements coming out of Korea, China and India recommitting to nuclear power, we believe that the industry will soon rebound with global demand for uranium far outstripping mine supply.
“The Letlhakane Uranium Project has now grown to be one of the largest undeveloped uranium deposits in the world and it has the tangible benefit of being in Botswana; a country which we believe to be a premier investment destination in Africa. Based on this resource increase A-Cap will be committing considerable efforts to concluding our Bankable Feasibility Study early in 2012 and focusing on bringing this project into early production.
“I want to personally thank the A-Cap team and the consultants from Optiro for the effort they have made to achieve this result and all of our shareholders who have supported us throughout this process.”
Independent Expert for the Resource Update
In accordance with JORC requirements, the Mineral Resource update has been supervised by Mr. Ian Glacken of Optiro. Ian Glacken is a Fellow of the AusIMM, a Chartered Engineer and a Competent Person as defined by the JORC Code for the reporting of uranium resources. Mr Glacken has more than 25 years of experience in resource estimation and reporting and has had direct uranium resource experience at Olympic Dam, Yeelirrie, Ranger, Jabiluka and Four Mile. Mr. Glacken is a Director and the Principal Consultant at Optiro. For the ten years prior to this, he held the role of Group General Manager -Resources for the Snowden Group.
The Optiro letter detailing the work completed in the calculation of the Mineral Resource estimate is appended to the ASX announcement.
The 2011 Mineral resource estimate for the Gojwane and Serule deposits - 100 ppm U3O8 cut-off table is contained in the ASX announcement.
SUMMARY
A-Cap’s wholly owned Letlhakane Project is located within north-eastern Botswana. The project lies approximately 90km south of Francistown, directly in-line with Botswana’s main infrastructure corridor comprising of the A1 highway, the main railway line and the north-south power lines. The water supply for Letlhakane will come from a borefield located approximately 25kms to the west of the project. Current testing has shown high quality water with excellent flow rates and A-Cap is now initiating an Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (“ESIA”) to cover the development of the borefield.
This resource update within the Letlhakane Project is part of the BFS scheduled for completion in early 2012. The focus of this resource update has been to both grow the Global Resource base whilst at the same time, improve the geological confidence with closer spaced drilling, leading to a significant growth in the Indicated Resource.
Across the project, mineralisation remains open along strike and A-Cap will continue to explore in this area adding additional resources through its targeted exploration.
A-Cap commenced drilling in late 2006 and within three years had discovered Botswana’s first uranium resource has subsequently grown to contain over 260Mlbs of U3O8 at an average discovery cost of less than $0.10 per pound of uranium.
The Board of A-Cap Resources is pleased with the Company’s progress of the Resource and sees this upgrade as a vital step towards the development of Botswana’s first operational uranium mine in 2013.
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