Project Summary
The Yalyirimbi Project is located 150km northwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and consists of a single Exploration Licence Application (ELA 33974) covering 247km2.
The project is considered prospective for a variety of uranium mineralisation styles including: palaeochannel-hosted, roll-front, tabular, REDOX, and calcrete-hosted styles, with similarities drawn to the Frome Embayment in South Australia and Mulga Rock in Western Australia.
Yalyirimbi falls along the northern margin of the Whitcherry Basin and hosts a large-scale, covered Eocene–aged palaeochannel draining the gneissic terrain of the Yalyirimbi Range that is located immediately to the north. High background levels of uranium are recorded along the Yalyirimbi Range within the Napperby Gneiss, outside of ELA 33974, with sporadic higher-grade peaks of 1,500-1,700ppm U where the gneiss is carnotite-bearing.
Elevated uranium is confirmed in the incised Eocene-age palaeochannel within ELA 33974, providing strong support to the exploration model, with limited drilling returning gamma log intersections in drill hole YR004 of 4.5m @ 120ppm eU3O3 and 1.5m @ 160ppm, and 1.0m @ 110ppm eU3O8 in drill hole YR025. Historical drilling also confirms that the palaeochannel hosts the organic-rich Hale Fm., consisting of interbedded lignitic to carbonaceous clays and porous sandstones, which is considered important for groundwater permeability and as a trap site to capture uranium.
Future exploration at Yalyirimbi may include passive seismic surveying to refine the large-scale palaeochannel to determine locations for initial drill testing.
Sunbird Resources is eager to rapidly progress the Yalyirimbi Project and is seeking expressions of interest from potential partners to assist advancing this exciting project.
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Figure 1: Project Location. -
Figure 2: Uranium exploration model developed by Riviere Minerals. -
Figure 3: A large-scale, Eocene-aged palaeochannel transects ELA 33974 with known uranium occurrences.