The NT Independent is providing an update of resource news from across the Northern Territory. Highlights this week include Empire Energy beginning drilling at its Carpentaria-3H well in the Beetaloo gas Sub-basin, Ragusa receiving regulatory approval for more drilling at the NT lithium project, Tennant Minerals starting its second phase drilling at Bluebird copper-gold discovery, plus more.

DevEx strikes high-grade uranium at Nabarlek

DevEx Resources (DEV) has crossed additional high-grade uranium mineralisation at its Nabarlek uranium project in the Territory as reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling continue at the site to further test more prospects. DEV said results have been received for the Nabarlek South and U42 prospects, with up to 1.80 per cent and 1.03 per cent triuranium octoxide intersected, respectively.

Drilling is ongoing at DEV’s Coopers prospect to test priority uranium targets before the company shifts focus to its Overload prospect.

“The dolerite rock package surrounding the historic Nabarlek mine is emerging as an exceptional shallow exploration target for DevEx, with multiple wide zones of fracture-hosted uranium mineralisation already intersected at Nabarlek South and significant high-grade uranium also discovered in a wildcat hole at U42,” DEV managing director Brendan Bradley said.

Ragusa receives regulatory approval for more drilling at the NT lithium project

The NT Mining Operations office has allowed Ragusa Minerals (RAS) to include more drilling sites in its present bore program at its NT lithium project. The expanded mining management plan relates to three tenements and will now allow for up to 38 drill sites plus additional drilling in the approved designated areas, which increases RAS’s program to drill up to 4,000 metres at the approved locations.

Ragusa said it will break its drilling operations during the wet season and will re=start next year, targeting lithium-bearing pegmatites beneath the weathering profile.

“This is another positive milestone that puts Ragusa in a strong position to rapidly accelerate the development of our project,” chairman Jerko Zuvela said. “The company is very pleased to receive regulatory approval to significantly expand its drilling program at our strategic and highly prospective NT lithium project.”

Ragusa’s drilling program targets lithium-bearing pegmatites beneath the weathering profile intending to define a maiden mineral resource for the project. The company has started drilling operations and has completed several drill holes to date.

Tennant Minerals starts phase two drilling at the Bluebird project

Tennant Minerals (TMS) has started its second stage of diamond drilling at its Bluebird copper-gold discovery in the Territory, which will see TMS drilling 10 holes to extend Bluebird to a depth of more than 400 metres and test for extensions and repeats to the copper-gold zone along-strike to the west.

The company reported that its stage one drilling has defined and extended the upper high-grade thickened zone and extended Bluebird to more than 250 metres below the surface. Boring, during the stage, intersected up to 15.2 per cent copper and 10 g/t gold, with the final two diamond holes confirming the mineralised zone, is open at depth and to the west.

“We are very excited to get this significant new diamond drilling program underway, which is designed to significantly expand the footprint of Bluebird and scope the mineral resource potential of this significant new copper-gold discovery,” Tennant Minerals chairman Matthew Driscoll said.

He said the geophysical programs, including new IP results, enabled TMS to fingerprint the Bluebird discovery and showed potential for repeats of the high-grade copper zone to the west of Bluebird, within the two-kilometre Bluebird-Perseverance Corridor, which is now planned to be drill tested.

Tamboran Resources to stake a larger claim in natural gas assets in the Beetaloo Sub-basin

Tamboran Resources Ltd (TBN) will broaden its activities in the Beetaloo Sub-basin in the Territory after raising $3.4 million in a share purchase plan (SPP) at $0.21 per share. Tamboran’s share purchase plan follows a recent two-tranche private placement, which saw around 657.2 million shares issued at the same price as the SPP to raise roughly A$98.8 million.

The company intends to buy Origin Energy Ltd (ORG)’s 77.5 per cent interest in three Beetaloo Basin permits in the Territory through a joint venture entity. The acquisition will make Tamboran the largest acreage holder in the Beetaloo Basin, with roughly 1.9 million net prospective acres, boosting the company’s estimated net 2C contingent gas resources to around 270 per cent.

Empire spuds new Beetaloo gas well

Empire Energy will begin drilling its Carpentaria-3H well in the Territory’s Beetaloo Sub-basin.

Schlumberger, one of the world’s largest drilling contractors, will be managing the drilling program for Empire’s Carpentaria-3H project. Schlumberger will primarily sink a vertical bore that shifts horizontally at depth to penetrate a gas-bearing shale unit, a method of extracting a formation’s resources and is frequently used in the extraction of gas in the Beetaloo.

Once complete, Empire will be running a fracking program to release and extract the formation’s gas, which entails drilling into a resource-bearing formation and injecting a high-pressure cocktail of water, sand and chemicals that create small fissures in the target zone that allow the hydrocarbons to escape to the surface.

Meanwhile, development works at Empire’s Carpentaria-2H have resulted in a 51-day average production rate of 2.2 million standard cubic feet or MMCF of gas per day.