HUGE URANIUM FIND FOR ASX LISTED IMPACT MINERALS

A Uranium target greater than 200sq.km has become the subject of an intensive drill campaign by Perth resources company Impact Minerals.

The target, in Impact's 100 per cent owned Sua Prospect in Botswana, has never been drilled for uranium.

The company said recent soil sampling showed ``strongly elevated uranium-in-soil values which warrant drill testing in many places''.

Impact said it had previously targeted the area as being prospective for uranium deposits hosted by calcrete palaeochannels similar to those that host uranium mineralisation at Yeelirrie in Western Australia and Langer Heinrich in Namibia.

The Sua Prospect is on the western margin of Sua Pan about 170km west of Francistown, Botswana. Impact regards access and infrastructure as ``excellent'' and the prospect is close to a large soda ash plant that operates at Sua Pan.

Impact said in a statement today that it's soil survey at Sua comprised 778 samples taken at 500m intervals along lines 1km apart, and covering an area of about 320sq.km. The samples were analysed for uranium by the MMI-M method at SGS Laboratories in Perth.

The soil results have defined several areas with anomalous uranium-in-soil responses that contain elevated uranium-in-soil values, it said.

``The largest area is close to the western edge of Sua Pan, trends north east to south west and is at least 16km long and 5km wide.

``The second largest area occurs in the central south of the area sampled, trends north west to south east and is up to 10km long and 3km wide.

``Within these two large areas there are at least eight sub-areas that cover about 12sq.km, defined by uranium responses greater than 50 times background and up to 110 times background.

``Follow up field checking and selection of specific areas for drilling in the June 2010 quarter will commence shortly.''

Impact said that these uranium-in-soil results at Sua were significant and supported the high prospectivity for calcrete and playa-lake hosted uranium mineralisation within the company's extensive ground holdings.

The major drill campaign for in the June 2010 quarter will test the uranium-in-soil anomalies at both the Sua and Kodibeleng Prospects, as well as infill drilling at the Lekobolo Prospect where significant uranium results were recently returned from the company's maiden drill program in Botswana.

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ROYAL RESOURCES INTERSECTS URANIUM AT URAVAN BELT COLORADO

Royal Resources (ASX: ROY) has completed the initial drill testing of the Bush Canyon prospecting the Uravan Mineral Belt in Colorado, USA.

The first phase of drilling, comprising four holes for 1,140 feet (347m) returned 1.5 feet (0.45m) @ 0.118% (1180 ppm) eU3O81 from 337.8 feet (103m) in the last hole.

Immediate follow-up with the redrilling of the first three holes to greater depths and drilling of an eighth hole returned 1.4 feet (0.42m) @ 0.020% (200 ppm) eU3O8 from 341.6 feet (104m).

The uranium mineralisation is associated with copper mineralisation, in the form of azurite and malachite, a common association seen in the larger uranium deposits in this district.

Bitumen and other carbonaceous matter was also noted in the cuttings, a good reductant and necessary for uranium mineralisation.

The Bush Canyon prospect occurs on claims held by the Colorado Plateau Partners Joint Venture
(CPPJV) in the Egnar area of western Colorado.

The CPPJV is a 50:50 JV between Lynx-Royal (Royal 90%, Lynx E&M LLC 10%) and Toronto Stock Exchange listed Energy Fuels Resources (TSX: EFR) and is managed by Royal Resources.

The Bush Canyon target is based on an extension of an historic prospect drilled by the Cotter Corporation of the USA in the 1980s and purportedly containing uranium oxide grades of around 0.25%.

The CPPJV drilled a preliminary hole in the area in 2008 (EG-08-007) to 500 feet (152m) with no significant intercepts. Re-assessment of the geometry and stratigraphy of the area determined the present drilling target.

The company said neither of the two intercepts reported is of a grade typical of the historic ore grades (> 0.20% uranium oxide), but both are significant; in many cases in the Uravan Mineral Belt, minor mineralised holes can be lateral to deposits by only tens of feet.

Importantly, the intercepted mineralisation is open to the east and west.

A second phase of drilling, comprising up to ten holes, is being considered in the light of proposed drilling elsewhere in the Uravan Belt. At time of writing, all drilling activities have ceased in the area due to excessive snow cover and are unlikely to recommence until late May.

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BERKELEY RESOURCES LATEST SALAMANCA URANIUM PROJECT DRILL RESULTS LOOKS ENCOURAGING

Salamanca Uranium Project

Berkeley Resources (ASX:BKY) has received drill results from exploration at the Águila and Alameda areas and final results from the program at the Alameda South deposit at the Salamanca Uranium Project in Spain.

A total of 19 diamond holes (1,667m) were drilled at the Alameda South deposit, all of which intercepted their intended targets.

The thickness and grade of the intercepts continues to provide a high level of confidence in the historical drilling information upon which Berkeley has based its exploration targets. The Alameda exploration target is 25.5 - 29 million tonnes @ 450 - 500 ppm U3O8.

The Alameda deposits have been extensively explored by ENUSA but are not classed as Mineral Resources. The Alameda South deposit is located 12km west of the ENUSA Quercus Plant and is accessible via sealed highway and a sealed secondary road.

Best drill intersections based on down-hole gamma logging were: Hole ASD_001 3.2m @ 5,904ppm eU308 and Hole ASX_002 47.5m @ 2,120ppm eU308.

It is anticipated that a Mineral Resource Estimate will be completed for the Alameda area by the end of the 1st Quarter.

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SOUTHERN URANIUM GAINS NEW TENEMENTS NEAR RIDGEBACK

Southern Uranium (ASX: SNU) has signed a Joint Venture Agreement to acquire a majority interest in Exploration Licence 3922, extending the company’s exploration reach in South Australia from its Ridgeback project to a prospective area adjoining the Moonta mining field.

The Webling Bay licence area shares a similar structural and gravity setting to Southern Uranium’s high priority Ridgeback project on the northern Yorke Peninsula and has strong iron oxide copper gold uranium (“IOCGU”) discovery potential.

Southern Uranium will pay Destiny Stone Australia Pty Ltd A$15,000 for an 85 per cent legal and beneficial interest in all minerals except dimension stone and industrial minerals which shall remain 100 per cent held by Destiny Stone.

Southern Uranium Managing Director John Anderson welcomed the Company’s new joint venture agreement with Destiny Stone.

“This joint venture enables Southern Uranium to extend its exploration for IOCGU deposits from our high-priority Ridgeback project to other prospective areas adjoining the historic Moonta mining field,” Anderson said.

The purchase remains subject to application to the South Australian Government for approval of the transfer of the 85 per cent interest to Southern Uranium and notification of the release of all encumbrances affecting the tenement.

Southern Uranium will manage the exploration on behalf of the Joint Venture partners. Destiny Stone will be free-carried for its 15 per cent interest in all minerals except dimension stone and industrial minerals until a decision to mine is made on completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study.

The Webling Bay area is particularly attractive to Southern Uranium as it sits over the covered northeasterly extensions of the Moonta field at the intersection with a northwest structure interpreted as a key control on the Ridgeback target.

Anderson said the geological setting of the Webling Bay area was analogous to the position of the Ridgeback targets on the northeasterly Pine Point Fault Zone of copper and uranium deposits.

“At Webling Bay, valuable past drilling by the Mines Department and by other explorers intersected very prospective alteration and breccias indicative of nearby IOCGU potential,” Anderson said.

“The drilling also showed the cover there is relatively thin at 20 to 150 metres in thickness. As encountered at Ridgeback, the past gravity surveying is patchy but encouraging, with indicative gravity anomalies that may represent haematite-hosted IOCGU targets.”

Southern Uranium proposes to cover the EL area with detailed gravity surveying for such targets.

Soil geochemical sampling will also be undertaken in this thinly covered part of the Moonta district.

Anderson said Southern Uranium was successfully applying the soil geochemical technique over similar geology and cover depths on Eyre Peninsula.

So in contrast with Ridgeback, where the cover is thicker and we have relied on magnetic and gravity geophysics to define those exciting drill targets, the soil geochemistry will give us the added opportunity of directly detecting the metals that the Joint Venture is looking for at Webling Bay.


Southern Uranium At A Glance

Since listing on the ASX in 2007, Southern Uranium has built a small but experienced exploration team and a portfolio of highly prospective exploration projects throughout Australia. During 2008 and 2009, aerial and ground surveys defined and evaluated targets, enabling the prioritisation of projects.

Three key projects, East Eyre Peninsula, Calvert Hills and Pandanus West were selected for drilling in the 2010 financial year with added benefit of an operating environment offering improved drill availability and cheaper costs. Another key project was added in June 2009 with the grant of the highly prospective Ridgeback tenement with potential for more Hillside style discoveries on northern Yorke Peninsula. Yorke Peninsula is one of Australia’s newest exploration destinations and Ridgeback is currently our highest priority project.

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SOUTHERN URANIUM IDENTIFIES 6 NEW URANIUM - COPPER - GOLD TARGETS IN STH AUSTRALIA

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Southern Uranium (ASX: SNU) has completed a large gravity survey around the Ridgeback magnetic targets near Bute on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia.

The results have added six new "high priority" copper-gold-uranium targets within the highly prospective Pine Point Fault Zone.

This resulted from a gravity survey of the 30km length of prospective Pine Point Fault Zone (PPFZ) within Exploration Licence (EL) 4278 that is held 100 percent by Southern Uranium.

John Anderson, Southern Uranium’s managing director, said the survey work had produced excellent results.

“The gravity results are very exciting as the new targets firmed up our view that the Ridgeback area is one of South Australia’s best exploration addresses with potential for greenfields IOCGU discoveries.” Mr Anderson said.

“The combined gravity and magnetic targets support the presence of a large mineral system that warrants a substantial exploration program. The pattern of targets is close to our structural prediction of where IOCGU deposits are likely to have formed, so we look forward to being able to start drill testing soon.”

The February survey was designed to detect gravity targets with potential for iron oxide copper gold uranium (IOCGU) deposits in association with the two Hillside-style magnetic targets already identified at Ridgeback.

Consequently, six new targets were identified as gravity anomalies adjacent to the Ridgeback targets and other magnetic anomalies along a highly prospective 20km segment of the PPFZ.

The magnetic targets are proposed for drill testing as soon as access agreements are finalised with landowners.

The Pine Point Fault Zone hosts the Hillside copper-gold and uranium deposits recently discovered by Rex Minerals (ASX:RXM) and located 60km south of EL 4278. The Hillside deposits are hosted by magnetite-altered rocks and are considered variants of the IOCGU family of deposits.

Gawler Craton is a world-class copper gold uranium province with growing discoveries of IOCGU deposits at Prominent Hill, Carrapateena and Hillside add to the best known example of Olympic Dam.

Gravity was the primary exploration method used to discover the Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and Carrapateena deposits adjacent to lead-in magnetic anomalies.

Each discovery has added more information that improves the ability to choose locations and exploration techniques to make the next generation of discoveries within the craton.

The Ridgeback magnetic targets may be the core of a large mineral system that also contains haematite-hosted IOCGU deposits. Haematite is another iron oxide that can form IOCGU deposits but unlike magnetite is not magnetic.

The recent gravity surveying was therefore undertaken over an approximate 7km by 30km area centred on the Ridgeback magnetic targets.

This work identified six new high potential targets as being semi-coincident with or along the PPFZ from the magnetic targets. The new targets have prospective sizes of one to two kilometres length.

The pattern of gravity anomalies relative to the initial magnetic targets is encouragingly consistent with the structural prediction of IOCGU targets interpreted from the regional magnetics and used to select the area of the survey.

The pattern and extent of anomalous geophysical signatures may indicate a large mineral centre.

Southern Uranium’s initial priority is the drilling of the two Ridgeback magnetic targets to test for Hillside-style deposits or to at least demonstrate the presence of a large IOCGU mineral system.

The positive gravity results have significantly expanded the target portfolio at Ridgeback and additional drill programs are being planned.

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AUSTRALIAN URANIUM STOCKS IN FOCUS

Uranium is always going to stir passionate debate, but it’s a viable energy source that’s increasingly embraced around the world. Today, about 45 nuclear reactors are under construction, with plans for hundreds more. Most uranium oxide is sold on contract prices, but the spot price has weakened considerably in the past three years, and, according to the UxC consulting company, it was trading at $US42.50 a pound in mid February.

Steven Hing, of Novus Capital, says uranium has a bright future as an alternative power source amid a world wrestling with solutions to climate change. “Nuclear power is already popular in France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden,” he says. Hing has established a portfolio of uranium stocks that he expects should reward investors over the longer term in response to growing demand. His portfolio of producers and explorers isn’t a recommendation to buy, but rather potential capital growth opportunities for those willing to heighten their risk for return profile.

Hing says Energy Resources of Australia, one the world’s biggest producers of uranium oxide, booked a net profit of $272.6 million for the year ending December 31, 2009. The 23 per cent profit rise was boosted by higher uranium contract prices and rising revenue of $767.8 million flowing from stronger sales of yellowcake. The company expects higher maintenance and development costs at its Ranger mine in the Northern Territory to impact earnings in 2010, but forecasts production and sales to be broadly in line with recent years. The company’s long-term price indicator is strong, which Hing says paints a bright outlook for producers. Hing says Rio Tinto owns 68 per cent of ERA, which boosts confidence among investors. “ERA is a big player in the uranium space today and tomorrow - it produced more than 5200 tonnes of uranium oxide in 2009” Hing says. “It has estimate reserves of 150 million tonnes of ore for about 150,000 tonnes of uranium oxide.”

Paladin Energy produced a record 987,310 pounds of uranium oxide for the December quarter. Its Langer Heinrich project in Namibia achieved stage 2 production levels, with a 36 per cent increase over the September quarter. Ramp-up at its Kayelekera mine in Malawi was slower than expected, but rapidly improving. Hing says Paladin appeals as a relatively low cost producer with plenty of resource and potentially more export markets. He says the Langer Heinrich project has an indicated resource of 56 million tonnes of ore for 32,800 tonnes of uranium oxide. The project’s third stage should be producing 5.2 million pounds by late 2010. Hing says Paladin recently acquired Valhalla, which holds uranium tenements near Mt Isa in Queensland. “Paladin has a strong foothold in Africa and has plenty of good ground to mine,” Hing says.

Australia has about 30 per cent of the world’s known uranium reserves and about 15 per cent of the globe’s electricity supply is nuclear powered. Australia produces uranium entirely for export markets, and countries must only use it for generating electricity. BHP Billiton’s multi-mineral ore body at Olympic Dam in South Australia produces uranium and has massive reserves, but Hing says you wouldn’t buy BHP Billiton for uranium when it produces so many other commodities. The Beverley mine in South Australia, owned by US-based Heathcote Resources, also produces uranium, but Hing expects more mines to open in future to meet global demand. “By 2015, industry forecasts show uranium demand again exceeding supply as existing mines are depleted,” Hing says. “It’s a great time to be a nuclear power station builder, or indeed a uranium miner or refiner.”

However, outside the big producers, Hing stresses the risk/return equation rises significantly as uncertainty can surround company performance in a global sector laced with politics. “Uranium is one mineral where the investor must take a strong view backed by a stomach for risk,” Hing says. But the right investment can generate immense wealth as shown by Paladin when the share price rose from 5c on January 1, 2004 to $3.66 on March 10, 2006. The share price has been as high as $10.80 on April 10, 2007.

Black Range Minerals is an exploration company focused on growth through acquisition, exploration and development. Hing says Black Range is moving its high-grade Taylor Ranch uranium project in the US state of Colorado towards production. Hing says the company has a delineated JORC (Joint Ore Reserves Committee) code compliant resource base of about 8.9 million tonnes of ore for 23.5 million pounds of uranium oxide. The company has interests in three other uranium projects in the US. Hing says the company has investment potential as it makes the transition to uranium producer at the Taylor Ranch project.

Hing says Mintails Limited proposes to recover uranium from surface tailings resources in South Africa. The mining tailings are located on the West and East Rand areas of South Africa’s historic Witwatersrand Basin near Johannesburg. Hing says the JORC resource inventory on the West Rand includes a uranium resource of 273.5 million tonnes of ore for 25.14 million pounds of uranium oxide. He says the company’s remaining gold resource at West Rand is 316 million tonnes for a gold content of 3.086 million ounces. Hing says Mintails should benefit on higher gold and uranium prices, but the opposite also applies.

Hing says while there’s considerable resistance to the nuclear power argument due to the dangers of radiation and the difficulties of disposing nuclear waste, uranium-based fuel produces few emissions and may relieve climate change. “It’s also a cheaper alternative than clean coal and clean gas,” he says.

Hing says other listed uranium stocks investors can consider are Extract Resources, Toro Energy and Bannerman Resources. Extract’s primary uranium focus is in Namibia, Africa. “This producer’s principal asset is its wholly owned Husab uranium project, which contains uranium at Ida Dome, Hildenhof and Rossing South,” Hing says. Toro Energy focuses on uranium exploration in Australia and Africa and it’s total resource is 21.27 million pounds. Hing says Toro has several projects near Paladin’s Langer Heinrich discovery in Namibia, and retains the option to buy the Napperby uranium project in the Northern Territory from Deep Yellow. Bannerman Resources is a Perth-based uranium explorer and mine development company, with interests in two properties in Namibia and several properties at Botswana.


Company ASX Code Share Price Close February 26, 2010

Energy Resources of Australia ERA $18.37
Paladin Energy PDN $3.61
Black Range Minerals BLR 4.3 cents
Mintails Limited MLI 3.2 cents
Extract Resources EXT $7.25
Toro Energy TOE 11.5 cents
Deep Yellow Ltd DYL 23.5
Bannerman Resources BMN 53.5 cents

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BANNERMAN RESOURCES PROGRESSES DFS AT ITS ETANGO URANIUM PROJECT NAMIBIA

BANNERMAN Resources has revealed its Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) is underway on its Etango uranium project in Namibia, southwest Africa.

The Perth-based uranium development company says the announcement follows the results received from a range of continuous flotation tests conducted last month and earlier this month.

“These tests followed on from the batch flotation testwork undertaken in 2009,” Bannerman Resources says.

According to Bannerman Resources, further investigations are being undertaken into the metallurgical parameters, prior to progressing to the larger scale pilot plant test work.

Bannerman Resources says it has already completed 284,000m of drilling within the Etango project and expects the inclusion of the latest drilling into the resource model is expected to significantly improve the confidence of the resource.

Bannerman chief executive, Len Jubber says the project is making significant progress.

"We now have greater confidence in our understanding of the Etango mineralisation and are exploring some exciting opportunities to optimise the mining scenario, with the potential to reduce operating costs," Jubber says.

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