en.Wedoany.com Reported - Arkle Resources, listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced that its initial 1,500-meter reverse circulation drilling program at the Erongo Uranium Project in Namibia is progressing as planned. In three drill holes along two survey lines, secondary uranium mineral carnotite was visually observed in reverse circulation drill cuttings at depths of 4 to 15 meters downhole. The company stated that laboratory assays are still required to determine uranium grades.
The drilling program is entirely within the company's exclusive prospecting license EPL8995. Due to current high efficiency, the company has decided to add additional drilling and expand the scope of this phase, bringing forward some drill holes originally planned for the third quarter of 2026.
The company noted that the first survey line drill hole has been completed at the western paleochannel target, an area previously mapped using horizontal loop electromagnetic (HLEM) surveys. This means both the eastern and western channel areas have now been drill-tested. Infill holes are being planned for the eastern paleochannel target, while drill holes targeting the main uranium-bearing leucogranite (ULG) target have been brought forward from the originally planned subsequent program in the third quarter. Recent trenching has confirmed and exposed the surface target, and early testing of the deeper sequence will provide vertical control, directly guiding the design of a larger-scale, ULG-focused follow-up drilling program.
CEO Rory Harding explained that downhole gamma-ray spectrometry (GRS) measurements for the completed drill holes began this week. Combined with geological logging, this will determine which drill hole intervals are sent for assay, thereby concentrating funds on key sections. Harding stated that grades will be confirmed through laboratory analysis, adding that shareholders should expect a steady stream of news releases in the second half of the year as results come in.
The company said that 1,016 one-meter-long samples have been collected to date and are being held in accordance with the company's quality assurance and quality control procedures. Selected intervals will be sent to Actlabs in Windhoek for laboratory analysis. The number of samples to be assayed will be finalized after reviewing downhole GRS results and geological logging, with the first assay results expected to be announced in early September.
Arkle expects a variety of news releases in the second half of this year, including completion of paleochannel drilling (including eastern infill holes), completion of downhole GRS measurements and selection of assay intervals, trenching and surface sample assay results, ULG reconnaissance hole and other drill sample assay results, and ongoing progress on broader paleochannel and ULG targets within licenses EPL 8995, 8290, and 8298. The company emphasized that as of the reporting date, no assay results from the drilling program have been received, and no conclusions can be drawn regarding the grade or continuity of uranium mineralization in the drilled areas until laboratory assay results are received, verified, and reported.
