One more Mega timeHere are some facts I've put together on the Ben Lomond mine:
Mega Uranium has taken control of one of Queensland's richest uranium deposits. Mega has acquired the Ben Lomond mine, near Charters Towers, located approximately 50 kilometres west-southwest of the city and port of Townsville in northern Queensland, formerly owned by French multinational Cogema. Mega has received approval from the Queensland Natural Resources and Mining Minister.
There are an estimated 4760 tonnes of high-grade uranium at Ben Lomond, which has not been active since 1981. Mega will carry out additional exploration amid expectations there was potential for the discovery of another large uranium deposit. Mega believes that the Ben Lomond deposit has reasonable prospects for economic extraction.
While Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria do not allow uranium mining, they have come under renewed pressure to reverse those bans.
The Australian Federal Industry Minister has urged states to rethink their policies amid growing support for environmentally-friendly nuclear energy, China's insatiable thirst for the ore and a spike in the global price of uranium.
Despite being rich in uranium deposits, Australia has just three active mines -- Ranger in the Northern Territory, and Olympic Dam and Beverly in South Australia.
Queensland Resources Council chief executive said the state's resource sector was in favour of uranium mining and dismissed arguments that it would hurt the state's coal exports. ``There is, in fact, scope for all Queensland's mineral resources to be exploited.''
The Ben Lomond resource has in excess of 10 million pounds of mineable reserves U3O8 and a molybdenum credit of 0.15%.
At US$40 a pound for U3O8 and US$25 a pound for Molybdenum the in-ground value of the combined metals is over US$650 million.
A resource of about 6800 tonnes U3O8 with an average grade of 0.228% U3O8 and 4578 tonnes of molybdenum at an average grade of 0.149% has been delineated. A 1982 feasibility study proposed recovery of 4760 tonnes U3O8 from 0.246% ore. (source:https://www.uic.com.au/pmine.htm#lomond)))
This increased interest in Australian uranium assets is also based on changing investor perceptions with respect to the risks associated with government policies and permitting issues that would apply to any prospective new uranium project.
Mega has as a prolific management team and technical expertise.
A feasibility study was completed in 1982 and an Environmental Impact Statement was accepted by State and Federal Governments in 1984. The Ben Lomond deposit, discovered in 1975, was explored by surface and underground drilling, more than 65,000 metres, from 1976 to 1982.
Australia is the world's largest source of uranium, with 28 per cent of global known recoverable resources.
Uranium is the hottest investments in the world. A bidding war could sky rocket Uranium towards $100.00 a pound. Uranium prices are soaring to all time highs.
The uranium sector is one of the strongest-performing sectors in the marketplace.