Black Range gauges borehole technique

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Black Range Minerals has had a detailed preliminary technical and economic evaluation of mining conducted on the company’s Hansen uranium deposit located in Colorado in the United States using an engineered hydraulic borehole mining technology.

Location of Black Range Minerals’ Hansen/Taylor Ranch uranium project in Colorado, USA. Source: Company announcement

Black Range said the study indicates Borehole Mining could be a low cost method of mining the Hansen deposit.

Probable mine operating costs have been estimated at US$27 per pound of uranium including cemented backfill but excluding processing costs.

The recent evaluation included the assessment of the Hansen deposit’s geotechnical and geological parameters, to allow the company to develop a suitable approach for extracting mineralised material.

“The result of this preliminary evaluation indicates that Borehole Mining could be an alternative method of mining the Hansen deposit” Black Range Minerals managing director Tony Simpson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Previous feasibility studies for both open pit and underground mining methods are currently being updated.”

Black Range said the Borehole Mining technique presented it with a number of many advantages over conventional mining methods.

These advantages include:

–    Environmentally protective;

–    Low capital requirements;

–    Low operating costs;

–    Small surface impact;

–    Selective, high-grade mining if required; and

–    High mining recoveries.