Overview
Location
Utah, United States (Henry Mountain Basin, Colorado Plateau)
Ownership
100% IsoEnergy
Deposit Type
Tabular sandstone-hosted
Stage
Past-producing
Proximity to White Mesa Mill
127 mi (204 km)
Highlights
- Tony M Mine is a large-scale, fully-developed and permitted underground mine located in the Henry Mountain Basin 5 miles north of Ticaboo, Utah and 127 miles west of the White Mesa Mill
- It has excellent surface facilities and 17 miles of existing underground development. There is little refurbishment expected to be needed to bring it into production
- The mine was originally developed by Plateau Resources Ltd. in the late 1970s
- Most recently operated by Denison Mines Corp. from September 2007 to November 2008 and acquired by Energy Fuels in 2012
- The mine has been maintained in a ready state with all required permits in place to resume operations
Mineral Resource Estimate:
Category | Tonnes (M) | Grade (% U3O8) |
Contained (M lbs) |
---|---|---|---|
Indicated | 1.1 | 0.28 | 6.6 |
Inferred | 0.4 | 0.27 | 2.2 |
Historical Production
Company | Tons (000s) | %U3O8 | lbs U3O8 (000s) |
---|---|---|---|
Plateau (79-84) | 237 | 0.12 | 569 |
Denison (07-08) | 162 | .013 | 422 |
Totals | 399 | 0.12 | 991 |
Geology
Tabular sandstone-hosted uranium deposits present in the lowermost sandstones of the Salt Wash Member of the Jurassic age Morrison Formation. Mineralization primarily consists of coffinite, with minor uraninite, which usually occurs in close association with vanadium mineralization.
Exploration Potential
The property hosts the Tony M and Southwest uranium deposit and strong exploration potential exists in direct proximity to the Tony M mine.
- 2023
- 2022
The Company has completed 21 of the up to 59 proposed combined conventional rotary and core holes, for approximately 16,240 feet of drilling. The 2023 program is designed to increase the density of drill holes, in order to upgrade “Inferred” mineral resources (as determined by the SLR International Corporation in their 2022 Technical Report on the Tony M project) to the “Indicated” mineral resource category and develop a detailed understanding of the distribution of vanadium mineralization in the deposit. Historically, there has been very little investigation of the vanadium potential at Tony M. Confirmation drill program in 2022 showed V2O5/U3O8 ratio ranges from an average of 1:1 to greater than 17:1 at various localities that within the mine area.
The drill core recovered from this phase of drilling has been split, logged, and sampled, and the samples have been submitted to American Assay Labs in Reno for analytical determination of uranium and vanadium concentrations. Results are pending and will be detailed in a future news release. Results obtained from the first phase of 2023 drilling will be utilized to prioritize additional drilling at the project and are expected to guide technical studies including a Preliminary Economic Assessment.
The Company is continuing to advance plans to reopen the underground mine workings in preparation for a potential restart of Tony M. This work program includes updating mine ventilation and escape plans, maintenance of the existing ventilation fans, surveying of the underground mine workings, rehabilitation of mine workings and ground support, and upgrading of utilities.
The surface rotary and core drilling program was designed to confirm the results of previous drilling carried out by Plateau Resources, who were the original discoverers and developers of the Tony M Mine.
The 2022 drilling program was designed to confirm the stratigraphic position of uranium mineralization, the relative thicknesses of mineralized intervals, and the range of uranium grades that were encountered in the historical drill holes. The drill program was comprised of eight combined conventional rotary and core holes with vertical orientation, totaling 2,894 feet. Core samples from the drilling were assayed for uranium and vanadium, although 7 a very limited amount of historical data exists for vanadium. The program successfully verified the historic drill results as accurate and true for resource estimation. Eight holes were drilled with a tri-cone rotary method (“conventional open-hole”) to the top of the lower rim of the Salt Wash sandstone unit, approximately 400 feet from surface. The rotary drill cuttings were collected at 5-foot intervals and the lithologies were recorded by Company personnel. When the core point was reached (the top of the target horizon) a traditional 3-inch core barrel was placed on the drill string to core the entire Lower Rim of the Salt Wash sandstone. The zones that were cored in 20-foot-long intervals and were measured and marked by Company personnel and logged for lithology, geotechnical properties, and mineralization. The core boxes were stored in a locked warehouse on the Tony M property.