TORONTO, OMTARIO -- 07/07/08 --
Mega Uranium Ltd. (TSX: MGA) ("Mega") wishes to provide an update on progress in its Georgetown Project in Queensland, Australia.
Maureen Uranium Resource
A revised NI43-101 compliant ore resource estimate for the Maureen deposit was received from Mining Associates Pty. Ltd. of Brisbane. At a 0.02% U3O8 (cut-off, and with no grade capping, the) Maureen deposit is reported to contain an Indicated Resource of 7.19 million pounds Mlbs U3O8 and an Inferred Resource of 0.41 Mlbs U3O8, as summarized in Table 1 (note: figures are rounded).
Table 1: Uncut Ore Resource Estimate
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Tonnes %U3O8 %Mo Mlbs U3O8 Mlbs Mo
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 3,124,000 0.10 0.07 7.195 4.580
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 154,000 0.12 0.15 0.414 0.499
---------------------------------------------------------------------
When grade capping is applied, using a top cut of 0.55% U3O8 and 0.32% Mo, Maureen is reported to contain an Indicated Resource of 5.95 Mlbs U3O8 and an Inferred Resource of 0.38 Mlbs U3O8, as listed in Table 2.
Table 2: Cut Ore Resource Estimate
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Tonnes %U3O8 %Mo Mlbs U3O8 Mlbs Mo
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 3,124,000 0.09 0.06 5.949 3.875
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 154,000 0.11 0.10 0.382 0.347
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mining Associates recommend that the latter Ore Resource Estimate, with grade capping, be adopted as an NI43-101 compliant resource, and that the Uncut Ore Resource Estimate be regarded as upside potential. The total contained uranium in the new NI43-101 resource estimate of 6.33 million pounds U3O8 is a mere 2.2 % lower than the historical resource estimate of 6.47 million pounds U3O8 (2.38 Mt @ 0.12% U3O8) (established by Getty Mining Pty. Ltd. ("Getty") in 1979.)
The new resource estimate is based on 997 historical percussion and diamond core holes drilled by Australian company Central Coast Exploration NL and Getty in 1972-1979, and 94 RC/diamond core holes drilled by Mega Uranium in 2006 and 2007, including the previously unreported results of 26 holes from the latter part of the 2007 program, which are listed in Table 3 below(1).
Further details on the Maureen deposit and the ore estimation method can be found in the report, "Vigar, A.J. and Jones, D.G., 2008, A Review and Resource Estimate of the Maureen Uranium-Molybdenum Deposit, North Queensland, Australia held by Mega Uranium Ltd; Mining Associates Pty. Ltd., Brisbane", which will be posted on www.megauranium.com and www.sedar.com.
Fieldwork
Following the cessation of the wet season, fieldwork has resumed in the Georgetown Project, with a focus on drilling a number of prospects to locate additional uranium resources in the vicinity of Maureen.
On the east-west trending Lineament Fault Zone, some 25 kilometers south-southwest of Maureen, a 1400 meter drilling program is underway on the 300 meter strike length of known mineralization in the Central 50 prospect, to test for extensions of the mineralization to 200 meter depth. The drilling is a follow-up of an RC drilling program in the last quarter of 2007 in which three holes (LMRC201, 205 and 207 - Table 4) intersected significant mineralization, but where other holes deviated off the planned target. To date, three diamond core holes have been drilled at Central 50 for a total of 671.5 meters. Preliminary spectrometer and geological assessment of the core indicates that all three holes have successfully transected the full width of the mineralised fault zone - assay results are awaited. The historical resource at Central 50, as reported by Esso Exploration and Production Australia Inc. ("Esso") in 1981, comprises 1.3 Mlbs U3O8(2) at a grade of 0.16% U3O8, based on a 0.045% U3O8 cut-off.
Other drilling planned for the 2008 field season is as follows:
- An initial five RC/diamond core holes (total 810 meters) to investigate the Two Gee prospect, which is located on the northeast-trending Apollo Fault zone some 30 kilometers southeast of the Maureen deposit. The drilling will test for down-dip extensions of the known fault-hosted mineralization below 150 meters depth, and also investigate the potential for Maureen-style mineralization in Devonian metasediments east of the Apollo Fault. Four other RC holes (total 320 meters) are planned to test other radiometric targets in the vicinity of Two Gee, but if the initial five hole test of Two Gee produces significant results, these holes will be postponed in favor of additional drilling on the prospect itself. In the last quarter of 2007, Mega's hole 2GRC201 (Table 5) intersected 7 meters @ 0.02% U3O8 and 51 meters @ 0.03% U3O8 in Two Gee.
The historical resource(2) at Two Gee, reported by Minatome Australia Pty. Ltd. in 1983, comprises 1.6 Mlbs U3O8 in 642,000 tonnes @ 0.12% U3O8.
- 15 holes (total approximately 800 meters) to investigate the shallow resource potential of the east-west trending Far West 7 Zone, located some three kilometers south-southwest of Maureen.
- Three holes to test the V05 radiometric anomaly, which was identified in the 2007 airborne survey of the project area. The anomaly, which is covered by alluvium, is thought to be underlain by Precambrian basement close to the unconformity with overlying Devonian metasediments/metavolcanics.
Work has resumed on the follow-up of radiometric anomalies detected in the 2006/2007 airborne surveys of the project area by means of geological mapping, ground radiometrics and geochemical sampling. Drill testing of ten such anomalies (V35 etc, Table 5) in the last quarter of 2007 failed to intersect anything of interest
Notes:
(1). Tables 3-5 list drill hole intersections at cut-offs of either 200 ppm U or 200 ppm Mo. Assays for uranium and molybdenum were undertaken on one meter intervals of drill core or material recovered from RC holes, at the laboratory of ALS Chemex in Brisbane, using the pressed pellet XRF method (Lab. Code XRF-05). The results were reported in ppm U by ALS Chemex then converted to %U3O8 by Mega.
(2). The Central 50 and Two Gee uranium resource estimates reported, respectively, by Esso in 1981 and Minatome in 1983, are historical and not NI43-101 compliant. As the resource estimates were reported prior to the introduction of the JORC regulations in Australia, they must therefore be regarded as unreliable at this time according to the NI43-101 guidelines.
Stewart Taylor, Mega's President and Qualified Person under NI43-101, is responsible for this release and has verified the contents disclosed.
About Mega Uranium
Mega Uranium Ltd. is a Toronto-based mineral resources company with a focus on uranium properties in Australia, Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Mongolia and Cameroon. Further information on Mega can be found on the company's website at www.megauranium.com. Mega Uranium's Australian uranium properties, including without limitation Ben Lomond, Maureen and Lake Maitland, are subject to State policies that presently prohibit the mining of uranium.
Table 3: Maureen Resource Drilling Results
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hole Angle From To Width %U3O8 %Mo
(meters) (meters) (meters)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9286 90 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9287 90 degrees 138 149 11 0.12 0.09
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
154 158 4 0.01 0.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9288 90 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9289 90 degrees 18 31 13 0.14 0.01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9290 90 degrees 25 38 13 0.10 0.14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9291 90 degrees 0 1 1 0.02 NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9292 90 degrees 27 34 7 0.05 0.06
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9293 90 degrees 0 33 33 0.09 0.09
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9294 90 degrees 6 10 4 0.02 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 22 3 0.04 0.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
34 41 7 0.02 0.01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9295 90 degrees 6 10 4 0.02 0.01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9296 90 degrees 37 45 8 0.02 0.01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9297 90 degrees 20 24 4 0.43 0.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 49 18 0.14 0.13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9298 90 degrees 35 46 11 0.23 0.08
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9299 90 degrees 13 18 5 0.08 0.01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
21 33 12 0.39 0.74
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
33 43 10 0.01 0.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9300 90 degrees 15 20 5 0.04 0.04
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9301 90 degrees 1 14 13 0.05 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 36 6 0.09 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9302 90 degrees 2 6 4 0.03 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 37 12 0.02 0.04
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9303 90 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9304 90 degrees 6 19 13 0.06 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9305 90 degrees 151 156 5 0.07 0.08
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
162 168 6 0.04 0.10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9306 90 degrees 152 158 6 0.04 0.10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9307 90 degrees 150 156 6 0.02 0.27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
168 180 12 0.01 0.10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9308 90 degrees 160 169 9 0.01 0.04
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9309 90 degrees 0 14 14 0.04 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 17 3 0.02 0.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9310 90 degrees 11 14 3 0.01 0.04
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
9311 90 degrees 0 8 8 0.01 0.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
18 24 6 0.03 0.04
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: NSM equals no significant mineralization intersected
Table 4: Lineament Central 50 Prospect Drilling Results
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hole Angle From To Width %U3O8
(meters) (meters) (meters)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMRC201 -60 degrees 111 114 3 0.092
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
117 129 12 0.096
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMRC202 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMRC203 -60 degrees 150 151 1 0.036
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMRC204 -60 degrees 141 145 4 0.048
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMRC205 -60 degrees 167 174 7 0.090
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
194 196 2 0.031
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMRC206 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMRC207 -60 degrees 109 111 2 0.092
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LMRC208 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 5: Other Georgetown Project Drilling Results
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prospect Hole Angle From To Width %U3O8
(meters) (meters) (meters)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two Gee 2GRC201 -60 degrees 42 49 7 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-60 degrees 54 105 51 0.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V35 V35RC001 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V36 V35RC002 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V37 V35RC003 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V41 V41RC001 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V42 V41RC002 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V43 V41RC003 -60 degrees 18 20 2 0.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V44 V41RC004 -60 degrees 174 179 5 0.02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V45 V45RC001 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V46 V45RC002 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V47 V45RC003 -60 degrees NSM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", which is information regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations that is based upon assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. All information other than matters of historical fact may be forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "seek", "expect", "anticipate", "budget", "plan", "estimate", "continue", "forecast", "intend", "believe", "predict", "potential", "target", "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" and similar words or phrases (including negative variations) suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements about the proposed acquisition of Energentia by Mega, the continuation of its business following completion of the acquisition and our expectations regarding Energentia's properties and the Columbian region generally.
By its nature, forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information contained in this release include, but are not limited to: the possibility that the necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals will not be obtained in a timely manner or at all, and that other conditions to completion of the acquisition will not be satisfied; and risks related to the inherent uncertainty of mineral exploration and development activities generally, including political and regulatory risks.
Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking information, readers are cautioned that this list is not exhaustive and there may be other factors that we have not identified. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained in this release. Forward-looking information is based upon our beliefs, estimates and opinions as at the date of this release, which we believe are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these will prove to be correct. Furthermore, we undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.
All forward-looking information contained in this release is expressly qualified by this cautionary note.
Contacts:
Investor Relations
Mega Uranium Ltd.
Richard Patricio, VP Corporate and Legal Affairs
(416) 643-7630
Email: info@megauranium.com
Website: www.megauranium.com
