Last checked at 13 Oct 2011 07:00
13 October 2011
ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE
Salamanca 1 Uranium Project
Initiation of Licensing and Permitting on the Retortillo and Santitad Deposits
Berkeley Resources Ltd ("Berkeley" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that on Tuesday the 11th October it initiated the licensing and permitting processes for development of the Retortillo and Santidad deposits within the Salamanca 1 uranium project. These deposits will be the first to be developed in a program focussed on, Berkeley's 100% owned resources.
Salamanca 1 will now be developed as a stand-alone project which will be completely independent of the Company's joint venture with ENUSA, also within the Salamanca Province. Independent development of the Salamanca 1 project simplifies progress to construction and operation, because licensing and permitting processes will proceed through the Regional Government of Castilla y Leon. Initial discussions indicate strong support for the project.
An initial scoping study for the Salamanca 1 uranium project indicates robust economics, at an initial production rate of around 1.5 million pounds of U3O8 per annum. This initial production rate is expected to grow as Berkeley's additional 100% resource areas are developed into the project.
The process will utilise on-off pad, biological heap leaching, which is particularly amenable to the ore type, and to the region and its climate. Previous 40 day column test work has yielded recoveries of at least 90%. A preliminary feasibility study is scheduled for completion by year end.
A 10,000m program of RC drilling commenced at Retortillo in July with the aim of upgrading all "inferred"resources to the "indicated" category. Final resource estimates for the Retortillo and Santidad deposits are anticipated by late November, when all chemical assays become available. Progress calculations, based largely on e-grades and using the zoned block model method employed at the State reserve deposits (which combines kriging and inverse distance squared weightings), indicate that the original 2007 estimate (based on a recovered fraction with inverse distance methodology) overestimated the resource. Whilst the final difference is uncertain, the Company advises that it expects its current 100%-owned resources of 31,7m lbs to reduce by about 12%. The scoping study completed incorporates this. However, all exploration activity within the Company's 100%-owned licenses ceased in 2008, and there is considerable potential to increase its resource inventory.
Berkeley Resources Managing Director, Brendan James stated ''In the September quarterly report, I indicated that over the last three months, Berkeley Resources has undergone a significant transformation. Progressing the Salamanca 1 uranium project as an independent, 100%-owned operation is consistent with this transformation, and highlights Berkeley´s clear intention and focus to become a profitable, mid-tier uranium production company in the near term. We have the resources and technical skills to successfully commission and operate the Salamanca 1 uranium project. We intend to do just that, to the benefit of our shareholders and our wide range of stakeholders in Spain."
Enquiries - Managing Director: Brendan James Tel: +34 923 193 903 RBC Capital Markets: Martin Eales Tel: +44 20 7029 7881
The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Dr. James Ross, who is a Fellow of The Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and an employee of Berkeley Resources Limited. Dr. Ross has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Dr. Ross consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.