Uranium Projects

Slovakia - Uranium Licences (GB Energy – effective 100% Interest)

GB Energy through 100% owned subsidiary GBE Exploration Pty Ltd holds three uranium exploration licences in Slovakia covering Permian volcanosedimentary sequences. In nearby licences Canadian company Tournigan Energy Ltd have completed a positive Preliminary Assessment (Scoping Study) and is moving towards a Prefeasibility Study on the development of a published 31 million pound resource at Kuriskova (Indicated Resource 1.19MT grading 0.558% U3O8 for 14.6 million pounds and Inferred Resource 3.78MT grading 0.215% U3O8 for 17.9 million pounds). 

Modern systematic uranium exploration programmes have not been conducted on the GB Energy licences which cover uranium mineralisation areas initially explored by the Soviets in the 1960’s. GB Energy has commenced the year 2 exploration programme on the three licences including ground radiometric surveys. 

Nuclear Power in Slovakia

Slovakia, a member of the European Union since 2004, is economically and politically stable and has excellent infrastructure. The country has four operating nuclear reactors producing approximately 50% of its current energy needs. The government is planning additional nuclear capacity and has promoted the benefits of sourcing uranium domestically.

GB Energy’s Exploration Licences

The Kluknava Licence (19.7km2) covers a northwest-trending sequence of Permian sedimentary rocks bounded to the southwest by older crystalline rocks and overlain by younger sediments to the northeast. Uranium mineralisation has been traced discontinuously at surface over a strike distance of 7km and it is confined to arkose units intercalated with sandstone, quartzite and volcanoclastics. Generally, the uranium is associated with thin quartz veins and limonitic alteration.
Previous exploration ceased at a relatively early stage in the licence area with only five exploration holes having been drilled; the wells were drilled for geological mapping purposes and are spaced between 500m and 1200m apart. Shallow trenches have tested five surface gamma anomalies ranging from 21 to 35 times background; these anomalies are between 100m to 400m long and 100m wide. Uraninite and undifferentiated uranite have been identified as the main uranium minerals but as yet assays have not been located in the records for this area. Subsurface exploration is required to test the extent of uranium. 

The Zemplin Licence (30.6km2) is underlain by a structurally complex sequence of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic clastic sediments and Tertiary volcanics. This area has been subjected to more exploration than Kluknava including the drilling of 39 holes mainly to assist in understanding the geology and structure. One structural drill hole went to 1001.5m, 25 holes reached 500-600m depth, nine went to 300m and the remainder were drilled to about 150m. Uranium mineralisation is stratabound in a Permian polymictic conglomerate. The conglomerate is 40m to 60m thick in outcrop and in drill holes ranges from 3m to 50m thick; this variability in thickness is partly due to tectonic effects. Disseminated uranium mineralisation is irregularly distributed over an extensive area and the mineralised sections are distinguished by a marked colour change in the host rock. The uranium mineralisation encountered is in the order of 0.003-0.005% uranium.; however in one drill hole (Z0-10) a 2.1m interval (300-302.1m) measured 0.061% uranium and 0.001% thorium. 

The Vikartovce Licence is located some 10 km southwest of Poprad in central Slovakia and is 88.4km2 in area. The licence extends along the southern side of the Hornad River and it is contiguous in the north with a uranium exploration licence held by Tournigan Energy Limited. The Tornigan licence contains four historic uranium deposits (two have been mined out) and three occurrences of uranium mineralisation. The Vikartovce Licence is underlain by the same Permian volcanoclastics succession that hosts the established uranium deposits to the north. There are at least four documented occurrences of sandstone-hosted uranium mineralisation within the Vikarovce Licence.

Location of  GB Energy's Slovakia uranium licences.