Okapi Resources has engaged BRS Engineering to spearhead a technical study into its Maybell uranium project in Colorado.
The Maybell uranium project lies 5 kilometres east of Maybell and 40 kilometres west of Craig in Moffat County, Colorado. The project is nestled in a rural area that is notable for past uranium mining along with the current production of coal and natural gas.
The company’s recent land grab of 45 new mining claims and one State Mineral lease at the project comes laden with key geological data that Okapi says will fast track the ground’s evaluation. The package includes a catalogue of drill logs, detailed maps and geological reports.
Additionally, the database holds the design, construction and operating information pertaining to the mining and uranium production operations of Union Carbide – a significant historical uranium producer in the region.
The acquisition stretches the boundaries of the company’s Maybell uranium project where historical production tipped the scales at 5.3 million pounds of triuranium octoxide running a solid average grade of 1300 parts per million.
Okapi has entrusted the US-based consultancy to sift through the extensive data set as it looks to unlock the exploration potential of the project ahead of implementing exploration and drilling programs to validate existing and delineate additional mineralisation.
The engineering firm has wide-ranging experience in the uranium industry from exploration to mine design, feasibility studies and operations.
Importantly, the firm’s founder, Doug Beahm, has worked in the uranium mining industry since 1974 which included a stint with previous operator Union Carbide at the Maybell mine and mill in a variety of capacities between 1975 and 1982.
Union Carbide ran a number of shallow open pits between 1954 and 1964 along a 2 km strike in the Maybell district. Records reveal the assets held an average grade of 1300 ppm triuranium octoxide and produced about 4.7 million pounds of uranium. After an on-site mill was built in 1958, annual production climbed significantly. From 1958 to the mine’s closure in 1964, the Maybell region produced between 500,000 and 720,000 pounds annually.
Union Carbide resumed mining operations in 1976 following a surging uranium price but it was again discontinued in 1981 following waning demand for the commodity.
Okapi’s Maybell project rounds off a quartet of highly prospective uranium plays in North America including the Tallahassee project in Colorado, the Rattler operation in Utah and the company’s flagship Athabasca Basin Projects in Canada, home to the world’s largest and highest-grade uranium mines.
USA is one of the world’s biggest producers of nuclear power, generating about 20 per cent of the country’s electricity needs. Recent figures suggest the US imports almost 25 per cent of its enriched uranium — a processed form of the material — from Russia, with the material ultimately finding its way into nuclear reactors.
In its October uranium price predictions, Australia’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources forecast uranium spot prices to peak at about US$58 per pound in 2023 amid ongoing unrest in Eastern Europe, a key supplier of the material, as countries look to secure their own supply of the energy source.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
