ENRG radiometrics set targets on Niger uranium

ENRG Elements has used radiometrics in its ground surveys and a recent trenching program to identify potentially significant uranium mineralisation at its promising Agadez project in the landlocked West African country of Niger.

The company used hand-held radiation survey devices that provided readings up to 2900-times background levels, enabling preliminary identification of possible mineralised zones at the site within the Tim Mersoi Basin.

ENRG says it tested the highly-promising zones using radiometrics after past soil sampling assays and its 2009 geophysical airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys indicated several highly-prospective areas across its Takardeit area.

The company’s Takardeit mineral resource sits within its Terzemazour exploration permit (EP) ground that is part of its fully-owned Agadez project.

Agadez has a JORC resource of 21.5 million pounds at 315 parts per million uranium, stretching from surface to a depth of 37m. In 2021, Niger was the seventh-highest producing uranium nation, with the country’s Tim Mersoi Basin hosting the highest-grade and biggest tonnage of uranium ore deposits in Africa.

The Terzemazour EP is within the renowned Mousseden Formation, well known for its geological paleochannels.

This ground survey and trenching program has been important for ENRG Elements, providing crucial insights into the near-surface mineralisation at Takardeit and enhancing our understanding of the mineralised paleochannel systems in the region.

The company completed scintillometer radiometric ground surveys over five high-grade locations. Radiometrics is a geophysical process involving hand-held devices used to estimate concentrations of radioactive elements such as uranium that lie near to surface, by measuring the gamma-rays that the radioactive isotopes of the elements emit during radioactive decay.

The company employed the modern technology by surveying north-to-south lines on 5m spacings, with sampling points spaced 10m apart.

The average background-scale readings from the radiation monitoring device would normally be 20 counts per second (CPS), which measures the activity or intensity of radiation. However, astonishing levels of 10,000 counts per second were recorded and four of the five trenches provided elevated readings of CPS.

ENRG did caution that uranium grades can only be confirmed from assaying and CPS can not be converted into levels of uranium mineralisation. But based on the elevated scale of CPS readings, the company proceeded with a program of five trenches across three locations.

The trenches totalled 157m, varying in lengths from 15m to 41m and about 1.2m wide, ranging from 0.9m to 2.5m in depth. Once the trenches had been excavated, the walls were mapped and radiometrically logged, with samples taken using a channel cut along one wall at a constant height above the trench floor.

A total of 106 continuous 1m uranium samples will undergo preparation involving grinding and crushing and will then be dispatched to Perth for assaying. The results from the program will enable the company to plan a drill campaign with the appropriate drill spacings and its preferred strategy to explore the higher-grade Mousseden paleochannel system.

ENRG has pumped up the volume of its radiometrics use at Agadez to find uranium, enjoying every advantage that today’s cutting-edge technology can provide.

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