Paladin Energy Ltd: Labrador Inuit Lands Act Amendment-Aurora Uranium Assets, Labrador, Canada
PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/12/12 -- Paladin Energy Ltd (TSX: PDN)(ASX: PDN) ('Paladin' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce that, as foreshadowed in the Company's previous announcement of 15 December 2011, the Nunatsiavut Government has enacted an amendment to the Labrador Inuit Lands Act, lifting the moratorium on the working, production, mining and development of uranium on Labrador Inuit Lands. The Nunatsiavut Government is a regional, aboriginal government formed in 2005. Five of Paladin's six deposits fall within the Labrador Inuit Lands, the area administered by the Nunatsiavut Government.
Paladin holds title to significant uranium resources through its wholly owned subsidiary Aurora Energy Ltd. ('Aurora') located within the highly prospective Central Labrador Mineral Belt (CMB) of Eastern Canada. This includes 15.1Mlb U3O8 at a grade of 0.08% of Measured mineral resources, 68.7Mlb U3O8 at a grade of 0.10% Indicated mineral resources and 53.0Mlb U3O8 at a grade of 0.08% of Inferred mineral resources, using a cut off of 0.02% U3O8 for open pit resources and 0.05% U3O8 for underground, across the six deposits: Michelin, Jacques Lake, Rainbow, Nash, Inda and Gear.
Drilling is expected to start in the third quarter of CY2012 and will focus on infill and extension drilling of the Michelin uranium deposit. Expansion of the current resource base is expected both by drilling within the current deposit perimeter where significant areas remain untested and extensions along strike. Clearance will also be sought for re-opening the Michelin adit constructed by British Newfoundland Exploration (Brinex), in order to obtain samples for metallurgical purposes and to better understand the continuity of the mineralisation and the geological setting of this deposit.
Previous exploration by Brinex and Aurora has demonstrated the high prospectivity of the claim package beyond the Michelin area, and there are several high priority areas that require ground-based geophysical surveys and geological mapping as well as reassessment of existing drilling data in order to identify new drill targets. This work will be carried out in tandem with the drilling at Michelin.
ACN 061 681 098
Contacts:
In Australia:
Paladin Energy Ltd
John Borshoff
Managing Director/CEO
+61 8 9381 4366 or Mobile: +61 419 912 571
john.borshoff@paladinenergy.com.au
In Canada:
Paladin Energy Ltd
Greg Taylor
Investor Relations Contact
+905 337-7673 or Mobile: +416 605-5120 (Toronto)
greg.taylor@paladinenergy.com.au