AGREEMENT FOR NORTHERN URANIUM TO ACQUIRE A MAJORITY INTEREST IN MANHATTAN’S GARDNER RANGE PROJECT
• Farm-in agreement giving Northern Uranium the exclusive right to earn 60% interest in Manhattan’s 550km2 Gardner Range Project
• “The Don” prospect (historic drill result of 0.44m of 1.5% U3O8 and 1.7g/t Au) added to Northern Uranium’s Gardiner-Tanami high priority unconformity uranium
exploration target list
• Diamond drilling ongoing on Northern Uranium’s Soma prospect
Northern Uranium Limited (ASX: NTU) has reached an agreement with Manhattan Corporation Limited (ASX:MHC) which will provide Northern Uranium an exclusive right to earn 60% interest in Manhattan’s Gardner Range Project by spending A$1.05m within four years.
Thereafter, subject to elections by Manhattan whether or not to contribute in a joint venture, Northern Uranium’s interest may increase to a maximum of 90%.
The Gardner Range Project adjoins Northern Uranium’s Gardiner-Tanami Project, which is the focus of the Company’s current diamond drilling program.
The agreement will expand Northern Uranium’s exploration targets to include the historical uranium prospects “The Don” and “Deva” within its current program (see Figure 1).
Manhattan’s Gardner Range project consists of four granted exploration licences covering 550km2. Historic drilling at The Don prospect, within the project area, intersected unconformity related uranium mineralisation of 0.44m of 1.5% U3O8 and 1.7g/t gold in graphitic shale at a depth of 40m.
Recent work on Manhattan’s tenements included a single VTEM (Versatile Time-Domain Electromagnetic) survey line over The Don prospect, which identified a significant conductor at depth (see Figure 2). The conductor may be due to graphite below the deeply weathered rocks that characterise the area, making it a primary uranium target in fresh rock.
The agreement acknowledges Northern Uranium’s strategic alliance with French nuclear group Areva NC, and as a result Areva’s Australian subsidiary, Afmeco Mining & Exploration Pty Ltd
(“Afmex”) will operate the expanded Project.
A work program for the Gardner Range project will be added to Northern Uranium’s current program on the Gardiner-Tanami project where diamond drilling is in progress. A more detailed airborne VTEM survey is planned for this year and will be followed up next year with ground radiometric surveying, geological mapping, geochemical sampling and drilling.
Farm-In Agreement
Under the terms of the agreement with Manhattan, Northern Uranium has the right to earn a 60% interest in the project by spending A$1.05m within four years. A minimum expenditure of $262,500 is required before Northern Uranium has the right to withdraw should it wish to do so.
Joint Venture
On Northern Uranium acquiring its 60% Farm-in interest the two companies will enter into a joint venture with Manhattan holding a 40% interest. On commencement of the Joint Venture Manhattan has the option to contribute to expenditures in accordance with its then interest or be free carried to completion of a Pre Feasibility Study to develop a mine and retain a 20% interest.
On completion of the Pre Feasibility Study Manhattan has the option to contribute to expenditures in accordance with its then interest or be free carried to completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study to develop a mine and retain a 10% interest. Thereafter Manhattan may maintain its interest by contributing 10% share of expenditure, elect to be carried under a loan arrangement or sell its interest.
About Northern Uranium
Northern Uranium Limited is primarily a uranium exploration and development company and holds large and prospective projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
The Company has a strategic alliance with the French nuclear group, Areva NC, via its wholly owned subsidiaries, Areva NC Australia Pty Ltd (Areva) and Afmeco Mining and Exploration Pty Ltd (Afmex). Areva, which has a substantial shareholding in Northern Uranium, is the operator, through Afmex, of uranium exploration and development of the Gardiner-Tanami Project, and will also market any uranium produced by Northern Uranium.
The Gardiner-Tanami project covers an area of approximately 11,000km2 centred on the WANT border 200km southeast of Halls Creek. Northern Uranium and the project operator Afmex have been exploring for unconformity-related uranium deposits in the area since 2007. The Gardiner-Tanami area is compared favourably with the Alligator Rivers region in the NT where the Ranger mine, Australia’s largest operating uranium mine, is located NT and the Athabasca Basin in Canada, host to the world’s highest-grade unconformity-related uranium deposits.
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