Forte Energy has been granted nine Group 4 uranium exploration licences in the Republic of Mauritania, in West Africa. The licences cover 11,895 square kilometres, with more permits awaiting approval. The company is well placed to secure additional exploration licences.
Mauritania represents an attractive opportunity for Forte Energy, with large tracts of prospective exploration ground including historical uranium prospects located within Reguibat Massive, a part of the West African Shield. Exploration is further enhanced by the availability of modern airborne geophysical data and modern geological maps from the PRISM 1 project conducted by the World Bank.
Digital airborne data and processing of radiometric line data has identified several strong uranium anomalies. Initial assays from reconnaissance sampling at some of these anomalies returned grades of up to 9,500ppm U3O8 (0.95%).
In December 2007, the Company completed its first drilling program in Mauritania – on one of its licences in the Bir En Nar area of the Zednes region – following up on high sample results previously obtained. The 4,006 metre Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program consisted of 41 holes of between 50m and 150m. Downhole radiometric logging results indicated numerous high-grade uranium intersections, including 1.55m at 18,280ppm U3O8 (1.83%). A follow-up diamond core drilling program of around 6,000 metres commenced in October 2009 aimed at delineating an initial JORC code compliant U3O8 resource.
Geophysical surveys carried out during 2009, including assays up to 9,300ppm U3O8 from a trench at Anomaly 068, identified a number of high priority targets at other uranium anomalies within Forte's Mauritanian licences. An RC drilling program of around 2,000 metres is scheduled to be carried out at the end of 2009 to further test these anomalies.
In June 2008, the Company announced that it had entered a wide-ranging Co-operation Agreement with French-based multinational industrial and nuclear energy giant, Areva NC ("Areva"), to accelerate the exploration and development of its portfolio of uranium projects in Mauritania. Areva also holds a strategic 11.42% equity interest in Forte Energy. Forte Energy and Areva have agreed to establish a joint venture to develop the Company's Mauritanian assets if a minimum 60-80 million pounds of JORC code compliant inferred uranium resources are established within the next two years.
Mauritania Results
| Date | Name | Filesize |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 2009 | Geophysical Survey Results | (327 KB) |
| Mar. 2008 | Logging Results | (285 KB) |
| Sep. 2006 | Sample Results | (11 KB) |
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