Noronex readies maiden uranium drill test in Namibia hotspot

Noronex Limited is about to put steel in the ground at its Etango North uranium project, about 32km east-northeast of Swakopmund in Namibia, with the company appointing a drilling contractor for what will be its first-ever drilling campaign across the highly prospective ground.

The move marks a major step forward for the explorer, which has spent the past year quietly stacking the geological odds in its favour using modern exploration techniques before committing to the reverse circulation (RC) drilling program.

Etango North sits in elite company. It lies on a common inferred line of strike that links Bannerman Energy’s mammoth Etango uranium development project, with its 207 million pounds of contained uranium oxide, to the producing Rössing and Husab uranium mines about 36km northeast of Etango.

Sitting just 10km northeast of Etango and about 28km southwest of the Rossing and Husab projects, Noronex’s Etango North project occupies a postcode that doesn’t come cheap and is rarely available.

The giant Rossing uranium project is one of the biggest open-pit uranium mines in the world, estimated to have produced more than 140,000 tonnes of yellowcake from its beginning in 1976 until 2022.

The equally impressive Husab mine resource hosts more than 300,000 tons of uranium oxide and is expected to continue operating until 2044. It is the world’s second biggest mine by output and, in 2019, it accounted for 6 per cent of global uranium production.

The appointment of the drilling contractor marks an important milestone as we advance Etango North toward its first drill testing. The targets defined from the spectrometry survey and AI‑assisted modelling represent a compelling opportunity for a greenfields uranium discovery in one of the world’s premier uranium districts.

What Noronex brings to the table is a clean slate and a growing stack of compelling technical evidence. Last year’s ground spectrometry survey outlined multiple uranium-thorium anomalies, while also indicating alaskite-hosted mineralisation extending into Noronex’s tenure.

More recently, the company introduced a remotely sensed geological interpretation, which refined its understanding of the geological framework and has enabled it to home in on favourable structures known to host uranium-bearing alaskites.

A follow-up field examination has confirmed the results of that interpretation.

The work has highlighted favourable contacts between the Khan, Chuos and Arandis formations, along with domal structural closures that are interpreted to act as traps for flat-lying alaskite sheets – mirroring the same geological recipe observed at neighbouring deposits.

Notably, the upcoming reverse circulation drilling will give Noronex its first real crack at testing the third dimension of its mineralisation model. Until now, the story has been built from surface and near-surface datasets. This is the point where theory meets reality.

The initial program is designed to punch into multiple priority targets, including the strongest uranium and thorium anomalies from the 2025 survey. Alaskite bodies mapped during field traverses and zones of shallow cover have confirmed that mineralisation may be broader than suggested by surface expressions.

It will also explore the possibility of extensions into Noronex’s ground of anomalous historical drilling results next to the company’s licence boundary. These findings reported uranium values better than 100 parts per million (ppm) uranium oxide - a tantalising reminder that geological systems do not respect tenement lines.

Management believes the pieces may be lining up for a genuine greenfields discovery.

With drilling expected to start shortly, the company will soon find out whether its AI-assisted modelling and geophysical interpretation have successfully homed in on the district’s next commercial uranium address.

Etango North is structured as a joint venture with the local vendor, in which Noronex can earn up to an 80 per cent interest, giving the company significant leverage to exploration success if drilling delivers the hoped-for results.

While uranium is the headline act here, Noronex is no one-trick pony. The company continues to press ahead with its copper portfolio across Namibia and Botswana, providing multiple shots at goal across commodities that are increasingly back in the global spotlight.

For now, though, all eyes are on Etango North. In a district that has already delivered multiple world-class uranium deposits, Noronex is about to find out if its ground has been hiding a new chapter just beneath the surface.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au