Shares in Perth-based explorer Reefton Mining ended A4.4, or 67%, higher at 11 in heavy trading in Australia on Mar. 18. The surge came after the company said that radiometric surveying had turned up four new uranium targets on the Erongo polymetallica project in central Namibia.
The Vergenoeg, Sukses , Hakskeen, and Hoopverloor anomalies returned up to 94,320 counts per minute, indicating the presence of uranium-bearing mineralization. Combined, the areas cover 68 sq. km, with Vergenoeg topping the list at 36 sq. km, Hakskeen is next largest at 16 sq. km, with Sukses measuring 6 sq. km, and Hoopverloor 10.5 sq. km.
All four are situated within alluvial basins believed to have developed on palaeochannels, similar to the setting at Paladin Resources‘ developing Langer Heinrich uranium deposit south of the Hakskeen target. A bankable feasibility study of Langer Heinrich is expected to wrap up in April; annual production at a rate of 1,150 tonnes of U3O8 over 15 years is slated to begin in the second half of 2006.
Reefton has begun a soil-sampling campaign on the new anomalies; reverse-circulation drilling is underway at Hakskeen. The Haskeen target is seen as the most prospective owing to its proximity to Rio Tinto‘s (RTP-N) Rossing uranium mine, about 30 km to the south (Langer Heinrich is about 80 km to the south-southeast). Rossing, the world’s fifth-largest uranium producer, has churned out some 70,000 tonnes of uranium since 1976.
Reefton saw nearly 100 million shares change hands before trading was halted in the early afternoon on Mar. 18; that compares to an average daily trading volume of less than 1 million shares. The company requested the halt to trading pending a further announcement about Hakskeen. The Australian Stock Exchange queried Reefton about its increased share price and trading volume on Mar. 9.
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