Mkango Resources Identifies High Grade Uranium at Thambani in Malawi, Africa

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Exploration, Mining, Marketing, & Acquisitions

Date posted: 08/08/16

Mkango Resources has identified high grade uranium, niobium and tantalum values at the Thambani project in southern Malawi. Thambani is primarily focused on zones of anomalous uranium and associated niobium and tantalum targets across the Thambani Massif, a nepheline-bearing syenite gneiss which dominates the north eastern part of the license. Mkango has completed a trenching program across the Thambani Massif primarily focused on two sites of historical uranium exploration, known as the Chikoleka and Little Ngona targets. An initial set of 9 trenches, selected on the basis of anomalous ground radiometric results, have been re-examined and geochemically sampled across profiles from soil and overburden into bedrock. The first set of assay results of 142 soil and rock chip samples returned variably anomalous U, Nb and Ta values in most trenches, ranging up to 4.70% U3O8, 3.25% Nb2O5 in soil and up to 0.42% U3O8, 0.78% Nb2O5 and 972 ppm Ta2O5 in rock chips, notably higher than results from the 2013 reconnaissance surface geochemical sampling program. Results associated with the 10 best U3O8 assays. Preliminary mineralogical studies carried out on six rock samples from the Little Ngona River and Chikoleka targets, using Scanning Electron Microscopy at the Natural History Museum, London, indicate that pyrochlore group minerals, mainly betafite, are the principal carriers of U, Nb and Ta for these samples. Further mineralogical evaluation involving QEMSCANTM analysis is planned at Camborne School of Mines, UK. The systematic ground radiometric survey completed by Mkango previously revealed two distinct uranium anomalies occurring across the Thambani East and West Ridges. A strong uranium anomaly, measuring approximately 3 km by 1.5 km, occurs along the length of the Thambani East ridge, with a north-south trend, and a second uranium anomaly, measuring approximately 1.5 km by 0.4 km, occurring on the West Ridge along the western contact of nepheline-bearing syenite.