Atomic Eagle has moved to significantly expand its uranium footprint, securing an option to acquire the large-scale Sitwe Uranium Project in the country’s northeastern Luangwa Valley as it continues building out a district-scale uranium portfolio in southern Africa.
The ASX-listed explorer said the 429-square-kilometre project would increase its tenement holdings by about 38 percent and strengthen its position alongside the company’s flagship Muntanga Uranium Project.
Sitwe sits within the prospective Luangwa Valley Karoo Basin, a geological setting that extends into Malawi and trends toward the Kayelekera uranium deposit, one of the region’s better-known uranium systems.
The company has entered into a binding option agreement that gives it the right to acquire 100 percent of the project through its subsidiary. Under the terms, Atomic Eagle must spend at least US$200,000 on exploration and licence-related expenditure before June 30, 2027, after which it can exercise the option through a US$400,000 cash payment.
Chief executive officer Phil Hoskins said the transaction materially expanded the company’s exploration position while maintaining a disciplined approach to growth.
“The addition of the Sitwe Uranium Project materially expands Atomic Eagle’s uranium footprint in Zambia and further consolidates our position as a leading uranium explorer and developer in the country,” Hoskins said.
“Sitwe complements our flagship Muntanga Project by adding a large, prospective licence position in a highly endowed basin, with encouraging historical results and clear potential for further discovery,” he added.
“Importantly, the option structure allows us to advance this opportunity in a disciplined manner while maintaining flexibility as we continue to grow our broader uranium portfolio in Zambia.”
The project comes with a modest amount of historical exploration completed by African Energy Resources between 2010 and 2012, including airborne radiometric surveys, mapping, trenching and limited drilling.
At the most advanced prospect, Sitwe North, all seven historical drill holes intersected uranium mineralisation. Reported shallow intercepts included:
The drilling identified uranium mineralisation hosted within sheared feldspathic gneisses near the unconformity between older basement rocks and younger Karoo sediments. The mineralised horizons were tested over about 450 metres of strike and remain open in both directions and at depth.
