Name: Palangana mine.
Location: The Palangana mine is located about 40 km west of Alice, in the US state of Texas.
Holding and Controlling Company: Uranium Energy Corp (UEC).
Brief Description: The Palangana mine is between 91.44 m and 152.40 m in elevation and its physiography is characterised by low gentle relief.
Palangana covers 19 leases on 356 ha. The Production Area (PA) -1 deposit is on the DeHoyos lease, while the PA-2 deposit, the Dome trend and the CC Brine trend are on the Palangana Ranch lease.
Brief History: Uranium mineralisation was discovered by Columbia Southern Inc (CSI) during potash exploration drilling of the Palangana Dome's gypsum-anhydrite cap rock in 1952. From March 1956, CSI conducted active uranium exploration drilling on the property.
However, the US Atomic Energy Commission and CSI estimated underground mineable uranium resources. The only known details of the estimation method include a 0.15% uranium cut-off grade, a minimum mining thickness of 0.91 m, and widely spaced drilling on a nominal 60.96 m exploration grid.
Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) acquired the Palangana property in 1958 and initiated underground mine development. Development work was abandoned quickly, owing to heavy concentrations of hydrogen sulphide gas. Palangana was reacquired by UCC in 1967 after recognising that it would be amenable to exploitation by the emerging ISR mining technologies.
The push/pull injection/recovery system were used by UCC on ISR operations from 1977 to 1979, but were later proven to be less productive than well configurations or patterns of injection wells. Property leases were up for sale in 1980. Chevron Corporation acquired the UCC leases and conducted their own resource evaluation in 1981.
After the price of uranium dropped, General Atomics acquired the property and dismantled the process plant. The property was returned to the landowners in the 1990s. Everest Exploration Inc acquired the Palangana property in 2005, and later joint ventured with Energy Metals, through the formation of South Texas Mining Venture (STMV).
Energy Metals was acquired by Uranium One in 2008. UEC acquired STMV in December 2009.
Products: Uranium.
Geology/Mineralisation: The Pliocene Goliad formation, hosting the Palangana and other uranium deposits, unconformably overlies the Fleming formation and comprises a basal fine to coarse-grained to conglomeratic cross-bedded unit, with calcareous clay; a middle member of calcareous clay; and an upper unit of sandstone and calcareous clay. Caliche is common, especially in the muddy sediments.
The conglomerates contain a variety of lithic fragments from the Fleming and older formations. The Goliad is interpreted to be a braided meander belt fluvial deposit, with muds as flood plain or over-bank deposits.
The sands and gravels, composed mostly of quartz and chert, are very clean and associated with channels and point bars. Local geology at Palanquin is characterised by the occurrence of a Gulf coast piercement salt dome, this dome is about 3.22 km in diameter and is overlain by Pliocene sediments of the Goliad formation.
Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at February 23, 2010, were estimated at 393 000 t grading at 0.135% uranium.
Inferred resources were 328 000 t grading at 0.176% uranium.
Reserves: UEC has not established proven and probable reserves for any of its uranium properties, including Palangana. UEC has no plans to establish proven or probable reserves using the units of production method for which it plans to use in situ recovery (ISR) mining, such as the Palangana mine.
As a result, and despite UEC’s having started extraction for mineralisation materials at Palangana in November 2010, the company remains in the exploration stage, and will remain so until proven and probable reserves have been established.
Mining Method: ISR.
Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The well-control facilities and wellfields at Palangana include more than 40 injection and production wells. Other infrastructure includes an ion-exchange satellite and disposal facility.
Prospects: UEC and its lenders, Sprott Resource Lending Partnership and CEF have agreed to extend the previously announced senior secured credit facility by deferring required principal payments to February 1, 2019, and by extending the maturity date of the credit facility to January 1, 2020.
The company’s fully licensed Hobson processing plant is central to all of its projects in South Texas, including the Palanquin ISR mine.
Contact: UEC Investor relations
Contact Details:
UCE
Tel +866 748 1030
Email info@uraniumenergy.com
Website http://www.uraniumenergy.com/