Peninsula Energy Ltd (ASX:PEN, OTCQB:PENMF) has updated the mineral resource estimate (MRE) to 58 million pounds U3O8 at its flagship Lance Projects in the leading US uranium mining jurisdiction of Wyoming.
Significantly, the MRE within the Life-of-Mine (LOM) study areas of Ross and Kendrick increased by 19.6% to 26.2 million pounds U3O8.
There was a 50% increase in inferred mineral resources within the Kendrick Production Area and a 6.4% increase in resources within the soon to restart Ross Production Area.
Important time
The updated MRE comes as the importance of uranium to the green energy mix is recognised and the US takes steps to ensure reliable supply.
As explained by Peninsula managing director and CEO Wayne Heili, “This resource growth comes at an opportune time with the United States Government continuing to take meaningful action to reinvigorate its domestic uranium production and nuclear fuel cycle capacity, whilst the company continues preparing for the resumption of commercial production at our US-based Lance Projects.”
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Increased resources
The Lance MRE, which assumes mining by in-situ recovery (ISR) methods, was updated based on the results of 2023 drilling within the Ross and Kendrick areas of the project.
The MRE is based on a database containing more than 4,500 historic drill holes together with more than 4,350 drill holes completed by Peninsula between 2008 and December 31, 2023.
This update saw the total Lance MRE increase by 7.8%, from 53.8 million pounds to 58 million pounds.
The increase in the current JORC-compliant MRE relates primarily to an increase in resources identified within Kendrick following a 66-hole drilling program in 2023 focused within a portion of Kendrick that was previously identified with wide-spaced drilling.
Inferred resources within Kendrick were increased by 50% from 7.6 million to 11.5 million pounds U3O8 while estimated resources within the Ross resource area increased from 6.0 to 6.4 million pounds U3O8.
The Barber resource area mineral estimate was unchanged as no drilling occurred within the boundaries of Barber during the period.
“We are very excited to share this resource update," said Heili. "Our 2023 drilling programs generated positive results in terms of increasing resources within the near-term production areas at Ross and within the mid-term development areas at Kendrick.”
The company is planning additional delineation and development drilling programs at the Ross and Kendrick areas during this year that will inform the preparation and publication of future updates to the JORC-compliant MRE of the Lance Projects.