Mega Uranium Ltd. (TSX:MGA) has announced the results of its 2010 Cameroon drilling program, in the Salaki and Kitongo prospects of the Kitongo Project and the Ngombas portion of the Lolodorf Project.
Title to the properties is held by Mega Uranium Cameroon plc (Mega 92%, local shareholders 8%).
Kitongo Project
The 2258 km2 Kitongo project, comprising the contiguous Poli, Salaki, Gouna and Voko concessions, is located in northern Cameroon southeast of the small village of Poli. Access is achieved via two east-west dirt roads that connect with Cameroon's main north-south sealed road east of the project area.
Salaki Prospect
The Salaki prospect is one of several prominent radiometric anomalies that were identified in an airborne magnetic-radiometric survey of the Kitongo Project area in mid 2007. In the first half of 2009, Mega investigated the prospect by means of geological mapping, ground radiometrics, trenching and rock chip sampling. The work delineated a 1.2 kilometer long, NW-trending zone of elevated radiometric values within basic to intermediate volcanic and intrusive rocks, in an area of poor outcrop along a regional lineament. The initial drilling programme, in July/August 2009, comprised seven angled diamond drill holes (total 796 meters) on a NE orientation on five lines along a 600 meter strike length of the NW-trending zone. Intersections, based on downhole gamma probe results, included 54.1 meters @ 206ppm eU3O8, 14.7 meters @ 258ppm eU3O8 and 12.6 meters @ 461ppm eU3O8 - refer to Mega's news release of September 24 2009.
Mega's 2010 program consisted of 15 angled diamond drill holes (total 2204.9 meters) on a NE orientation, located both within the 600 meter strike length investigated in 2009, and also testing the projected trend of the mineralized zone extending 300 meters to the NW of the previously drilled area. 12 holes intersected >200ppm U3O8 over minimum widths of one meter, the best intersections being 3.7m @ 0.13% U3O8 (SAL006), 2.3m @ 0.08% U3O8 (SAL008), 1.7m @ 0.11% U3O8 plus 3.2m @ 0.11% U3O8 (both SAL013) and 2.0m @ 0.11% U3O8 (SAL020).
Based on a detailed study of the microstructures in drill core, the intersections are interpreted to be spatially associated with a steep north-dipping shear zone which transects metabasalts, metadolerites and metadiorites along the western limb of an open fold which trends and plunges northwards. Due to the complex geology and structure it is not possible at this time to estimate the true widths represented by these intersections. Further drilling planned for 2011 will seek to establish the resource potential of these high grade intersections.
Kitongo Prospect
The Kitongo prospect, located in the Poli concession 15 kilometers southeast of Poli village, occurs in albitised granite along a 250 meter high cliff face, which marks the NE-trending fault contact between the Kitongo Granite of Pan-African (Late Proterozoic) age and Middle Proterozoic Poli Group metasediments. From 1971 through to 1987, the prospect and the surrounding area were investigated in various exploration programmes by the IAEA, the Canadian International Development Agency, Utah Development Company, the German Federal Institute for Geoscience and Natural Resources ("BGR") and the Cameroon Ministry of Mines and Energy ("Minmen"). Exploration included airborne and ground radiometric surveys, geological mapping, trenching and diamond drilling. The most detailed exploration of the prospect itself, conducted by the BGR and Minmen in 1982-1987, included the driving of two adits into the cliff face (total 96.4 meters) and the drilling of 14 holes (total 1016 meters) at various angles and orientations over a 170 meter long portion of the target. Of these 14 holes, 9 intersected significant intervals of uranium mineralization, with grades of the order of 0.05-0.1% U3O8, in the form of uraninite mineralization in wide zones of albitised granite and in narrow high grade veins.
In 2008 Mega conducted a first pass program of 11 diamond core holes (total 1253 meters) along a 300 meter strike length of the Kitongo Fault to investigate the geological and structural controls of the mineralization delineated in the BGR/Minmen program. Of the 11 holes, 9 made intersections of >one meter intervals at a 200ppm U3O8 cut-off – refer to Mega's news release of March 3 2009. The holes showed that the bulk of the uranium mineralization is concentrated in zones of albitised granite, lying parallel to the ENE-trending Kitongo Fault and also occurs to a lesser extent along crosscutting faults of a NW trend.
The main intention of the 2010 drilling program was to test the strike projections of the known mineralization to the NE and SW in areas where the bedrock geology is obscured by overburden and granitoid boulders from the cliff face. A total of 2000 meters was planned on 12 holes, but after three holes (total 498.3 meters) intersected nothing of economic significance over a 300 meter length of the projected mineralized trend to the NE, the decision was taken to terminate the program and to move the rig to the Salaki prospect.
A detailed review of all available Kitongo drill core is underway in order to reassess the merits of the 2010 targets and revise the 2011 drilling program accordingly.
Lolodorf Project
The 501 km2 Lolodorf property, located in southern Cameroon some 70 kilometers SW of the capital Yaounde, is located between the towns of Lolodorf and Mbalmayo in low rolling hills covered by generally thick rain forest vegetation. The western and eastern extremities of the tenement are easily accessed by sealed road from Yaounde.
Mega's exploration of the tenement is focused on alkaline syenite intrusions of Palaeoproterozoic age which extend along a 70 kilometer portion of a NE-trending sinistral shear zone. In 1979, the Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres (BRGM) of France discovered uranium mineralization in this belt as part of a general investigation of the mineral potential of the region. This was followed up in 1980 by an airborne magnetic-radiometric survey, which detected 15 significant radiometric anomalies located in four major clusters – Madong, Bikoue, Awanda and Ngombas. These four sectors were explored in 1980/81 by means of ground radiometric surveys, trenching, soil and rock chip sampling, but only limited shallow drilling was undertaken on the Awanda and Ngombas areas. In April 2007, just prior to its takeover by Mega, Nu-Energy Corp. conducted a detailed 7350 line kilometer helicopter-borne magnetic-radiometric survey over the entire Lolodorf property at 150 meters line spacing and flying height of 30 meters.
In 2008, Mega conducted ground radiometrics and trenching of a prominent and easily accessible radiometric anomaly in the Ngombas sector, but planned follow up drilling in 2009 was deferred due to budgetary constraints. The 2010 drilling program comprised a total of 1385 meters in 15 diamond core holes along a 550 meter long portion of the main Ngombas radiometric anomaly. Only five of the holes intersected >200ppm U3O8 over a minimum width of one meter, the best intersection being one meter @ 0.12% U3O8 in hole NG008.
It should be noted that the 2010 drilling only tested a small portion of the 70 kilometer long prospective uraniferous belt as delineated by the airborne radiometric data. Ground radiometric surveys and prospecting activities are ongoing over several large radiometric anomalies in other portions of the belt in order to identify targets to be drilled in 2011.
The work programs described above, while testing only a small portion of prospective areas, have demonstrated the potential of Mega's Cameroon project portfolio. However, given Mega's focus on advancing the Lake Maitland project in Western Australia toward production, the company is reviewing strategic alternatives for these projects which could include, but are not limited to outright sale in whole or in part, joint venturing the projects or spinning off the assets into a new Africa-focused uranium exploration company.
Stewart Taylor, Mega's President and Qualified Person under NI43-101, is responsible for this release and has verified the contents disclosed.
Source: Mega Uranium Ltd.