Forte Energy Nl announced today that the Bir En Nar diamond drilling program is near completion.
Although Forte finalised a series of drills at the Bir En Nar site in January 2010, it was decided that a further 7 holes would be drilled in order to complete a more comprehensive 35 x 35 metre sampling grid. The initial results from this second drilling program has reportedly enhanced the Company's understanding of the site's lithology.
The AIM-listed company is an Australian-based minerals company focused on the exploration, evaluation and development of uranium and energy-related projects worldwide. The Bir En Nar prospect is a 900 metre long radioactive zone in Mauritiana, West Africa. The Company’s Mauritanian assets are being progressed through a Strategic Alliance and Cooperation Agreement with the French-based multinational industrial and nuclear energy giant, Areva, which holds a strategic interest in Forte Energy of more than 10% and is the Company's largest shareholder. The agreement provides Forte with access to Areva’s extensive uranium exploration database as well as technical cooperation and on-ground support in advancing exploration and evaluation.
The initial field results at the Bir En Nar reportedly reveal additional information on the composition of Bir En Nar uranium site. The information relates to vein size, location and direction, specifically that the depth extent appears to continue as new holes are drilled deeper, that veins or alteration zones appear to be deeper than previously thought and finally that there are multiple veins. However, these are preliminary interpretations and Forte plan to issue a complete resource statement in Q1 2010, once all the assay results are received and finalised.
The Company also announced plans to start a 6,000m drilling program of 10 uranium anomalies around the Bir Moghrein prospect, in February 2010. This will comprise around 300 holes across 10 prospects. This drilling will follow up extensive fieldwork carried out on these anomalies during 2009 that confirmed a number of highly prospective calcrete-hosted uranium deposits.
