JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed uranium explorer Aura Energy would receive assistance from the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum to develop the Gunbarrel Basin project.

Aura Energy said on Monday that its joint-venture partner Mega Uranium had agreed to fund a proposed 24-hole aircore drill programme, at the Gunbarrel Basin Joint Venture (GBJV).

Co-funding by the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum would now add up to a further A$30 000 to the drilling component of the programme, enabling broader and more comprehensive testing of the palaeochannel than was possible with the approved budget.

Aura’s drilling proposal was only one of two successful uranium drill programme applications that were being partly funded by the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum Exploration Incentive Scheme.

The Gunbarrel Basin contains a large endowment of sediment-hosted uranium mineralisation. Despite the amount of uranium present, the Basin is significantly less explored than the other major uranium provinces of Australia.

Under the GBJV, Mega Uranium could earn a 50% stake in the project by spending A$3-milion. Aura’s landholding in the Basin, which totals about 2 760 km2, covers major portions of three of the four main palaeochannels in the region.

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