Canada-based uranium explorer Kraken Energy has secured drilling permits from the Nevada Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its Apex uranium property in Nevada, US.
With the approval, Kraken expects to start this inaugural drilling programme before the end of this year. It can drill 24 holes of up to 2,200 metres from eight pads.
Through the programme, the company will test high-priority targets to the northwest and along the trend of the historic Apex uranium mine.
In August this year, the company reported an expansion of the property on Nevada BLM land covering the potential north-west expansion of uranium mineralisation from the historic Apex mine.
Earlier this month, the company reported identifying several high-priority drill targets that include geophysical and radon anomalies along a 2km trend north-west of the mine and within the newly expanded BLM ground.
The company claims that interpreting magnetic surveys from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) show geophysical characteristics related to uranium mineralisation at the mine.
The newly defined and previously undrilled target has depths ranging between 50m and 200m.
Kraken Energy CEO Matthew Schwab said: “The emergence of this 2km-long, high-priority target area along the trend of the historic Apex uranium mine is very exciting for the Kraken team. With an approved drill permit now in hand and the environmental bond paid, we are ready to commence our maiden drill programme at the Apex uranium property.
“As our understanding of the property has continued to develop, the multi-layered anomalies from radon and geophysical surveys (electromagnetic and magnetic) combined with our ground-truthed geological model presents excellent discovery potential for the upcoming drill program at our flagship uranium property in Nevada.”
Apex uranium mine is a historic mine, located close to Austin in Lander County, Nevada. It covers a total area of 3,906ha.
In1950s, the mine has produced more than 106,000lb of triuranium octoxide (U₃O₈). Historically, the mine had an average production grade of 0.25% of U₃O₈.
