Historically known as a uranium-mining country, Niger’s minerals and mining industry is contributing about 4,5% to the country’s gross domestic product and has evoked some interest from foreign investors for the exploration of minerals and the development of mines.

Canadian uranium exploration company Homeland Uranium reports that its ongoing 
exploration work in Niger has resulted in the delineation of several significant multiparameter target areas.

Homeland, through its wholly owned Niger subsidiary company, Uranium International, controls eight contiguous licences in two 
licence blocks, known as Agelal and Asekra, for a total of 3 730 km2. The licences are 
located toward the eastern edge of the Tim Mersoi Basin, immediately west of the Arlit fault and uranium-miner Areva’s Somair and Cominak uranium-mining complexes in and around the city of Arlit.

A number of surveys were completed over the past two years, including airborne magnetics and radiometrics over the Asekra block, along with radon cup, mobile metal ion (MMI) over both licence blocks, limited ground radiometrics and geological mapping and satellite imagery acquired and processed over the entire property and surrounding area. 
Further, the company says that over 90 historical drill holes have been geographically registered, digitised and incorporated into the company’s database.

The most significant multiparameter anomaly, Asekra Target One, has been delineated on the Asekra concession. 
This target area strikes for more than 20 km and is up to 8 km in width, and comprises a large stratabound anomaly cluster within an uplifted, fault-bounded block of Tchirezrine II 
formation rocks at surface and in shallow subcrop. This is the same stratigraphic unit that hosts Areva’s giant Imouraren uranium deposit, which is currently under construction and located 30 km to the east-south-east of Target One.

The target is defined by coincident radon anomalies, MMI including uranium, molybdenum and other pathfinder element anomalies, along with a pronounced airborne radiometric anomaly coincident with the northern block-bounding fault.

There is no evidence of any prior work such as drilling or sampling ever having been conducted over this target area. Homeland’s management believes that this combination of coincident geochemical and geophysical anomalies overlying key uranium host 
geology and structure, and covering such an 
extensive area, renders this target area quite significant.

Homeland’s generative work has also led to the delineation of four additional target areas that warrant follow-up work. 
The next most significant, Asekra Target Two, is located 50 km south of Asekra Target One.

This target area is somewhat narrower, up to 3 km to 5 km wide and at least 20 km long, characterised by coincident radon and MMI anomaly clusters in turn coincident with a pronounced airborne radiometric anomaly that runs the full width of the southernmost Asekra licence along the lineament fault.

Shallow cretaceous rocks overlie upper Jurassic Tchirezrine II rocks in this area, which lies roughly 30 km north of the Chinese-
owned and -operated Abkorum uranium 
deposit, which occurs along a similar, parallel west-south-west-trending fault.

The delineation of these targets, both 
individually and collectively, marks a significant step forward in Homeland’s progress in Niger towards discovery, particularly in the first three target areas.

Meanwhile, Canadian gold exploration and development company Orezone Gold Corporation announced that its subsidiary, Brighton Energy, has completed the acquisition of three uranium exploration permits in Niger.

Brighton is a uranium-focused explorer with title to 4 000 km2 of well-located and prospective ground that contains key geological structures and favourable rocks, known to host or control the mineralisation at producing uranium mines in the region.

The basin currently ranks as the sixth-largest uranium-producing area in the world and is expected to become the second-largest by 2012 with production from Areva and China Nuclear. 
It still remains to be one of the most underexplored yet most prolific uranium-producing districts.

Orezone currently holds an 80% equity interest in Brighton and will be the initial manager and operator of the exploration programmes on the properties. The company 
reports that it is preparing Brighton to 
become an independently financed, managed and listed public company.

The 2010 exploration programme is 
expected to be valued at $3-million and will include airborne geophysical surveys followed by ground verification and drilling of the higher priority uranium targets identified along the major mineralised trends.