MAN first batch of assay results from Utah Uranium project
Mandrake Resources (ASX: MAN) just reported its first batch of assays from its uranium focused sampling program in Utah, USA.
MAN holds ~93,755 acres of ground in Utah which was previously the third biggest uranium mining state in the USA.
MAN’s project sits <5km away from the La Sal uranium mine which restarted production in December 2023 and ~100km away from the only operating conventional uranium mill in the US (White Mesa Mill).
Both La Sal and the White Mesa mill are owned by US$1BN capped Energy Fuels.
Today, MAN put out assay results from three of six rock chip samples taken from its project.
The highest uranium grade reported was 0.55%.
For some context on the result - Energy Fuels La Sal producing mine has a 4.3m lb uranium resource with average grades of ~0.26%.
So the results are pretty strong already… BUT
The next three results are the ones we are most interested in because those are the ones MAN couldnt get assayed because radiation levels surpassed lab limits…
So the next three rock chips should technically have the highest uranium grades - assuming the radiation levels correlate with uranium mineralisation.
We wrote about the upcoming results in detail in our latest MAN note here: MAN uranium samples rejected by assay laboratory for being “too radioactive”
Why we are interest in MAN’s uranium focused work:
MAN initially entered Utah looking for lithium brines…
We are still very interested in the lithium project (we think lithium will eventually bounce back).
...but given the lithium price weakness and strength in the uranium price, we are happy to see MAN put some of its $16M cash pile towards exploring its ground for uranium in the near term.
Here’s why:
- The uranium price is ripping - Uranium spot prices are at near 16 year highs and could be about to explode even higher... just like we have seen with the last two uranium spot price cycles.
- Utah is the third biggest uranium producing state in the USA - between 1949 and 2019 the Lisbon Valley in Utah (where MAN’s project is) produced ~8% of all US uranium supply.
- MAN’s project has ~20 historic uranium mines/occurences - a 16 mile long strike area with ~40 different uranium occurrences runs through MAN’s project area…
- Much bigger companies are active in the region - US$1BN Energy Fuels & TSX listed Consolidated Uranium capped at A$225M.
What’s next for MAN?
US Lithium project -
- Re-entry program to commence ☐
- Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) test results 🔄
- JORC lithium exploration target 🔄
Uranium focused rock chip assays at US project 🔄-
Assay results from the remaining three rock chip samples.
