PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Explorer Okapi Resources has completed the acquisition of a 51% interest in the Hansen uranium deposit, in Colorado, increasing the mineral resource estimate for its greater Tallahassee uranium project to 42-million tonnes, at 540 parts per million, for 49.8-million pounds of contained uranium.

Okapi in April this year struck an agreement to acquire the majority interest in the Hansen deposit, which is adjacent to Okapi’s Taylor and Boyer uranium deposits.

Under the terms of the agreement, Okapi paid $50 000 on the execution of a binding term sheet and $450 000 on entering into a definitive option agreement. The option can be maintained for a period of five years, and by paying $250 000 yearly, with Okapi having the right to conduct mineral prospecting, exploration, development, mining and related activities during this period.

The option period could be extended for a further three years for the payment of $500 000 yearly.

Okapi also has the right to exercise the option during this eight-year period by paying $5-million, at which time it will receive the majority interest in the asset, reserving a royalty of 1.5%.

“The coming period is a very exciting time, with the company recently commencing diamond drilling at its 100% owned Enmore gold project in New South Wales, about to embark on an extensive summer field exploration programme in the Athabasca basin, and we continue to advance our Tallahassee uranium project in the US which has significant strategic value given the recent geopolitical developments in the US uranium industry,” said Okapi MD Andrew Ferrier.

“The announcements by the Biden Administration in early June 2022 marks a new beginning for the domestic US uranium industry. Citing Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Biden Administration is now proposing a plan whereby the Department of Energy is requesting Congress approval to purchase $4.3-billion of enriched uranium directly from domestic producers, which is aimed at dramatically reducing America’s dependence on Russian imports of uranium.”