SUNSHINE MINERAL RESERVES ANNOUNCES THAT ITS MAJOR BEISA URANIUM-GOLD PROJECT IS FOR SALE (WELKOM, SOUTH AFRICA)
INTRODUCTION
Sunshine’s Beisa Uranium-Gold Project
Uranium resources of 89.23 Mlb of U3O8 and 2.63 Moz of gold
Sunshine holds two uranium and gold Prospecting Rights[1], which are situated in the Magisterial District of Virginia in the Free State Province of South Africa, close to the mining town Welkom. The two rights cover a vast area of 7 965 hectares, where the well-known Beisa uranium reef was discovered and later intensively developed. The two rights fall under the project names Beisa North and Beisa South (Figure 1).
[1] The mineral holdings, as well as the exploration history of the two Prospecting Rights are detailed in the Appendix.
On 31 August 2023, Sunshine declared SAMREC compliant Inferred resources for the Beisa North and Beisa South Projects of 89,23 Mlb of U3O8 and 2,63 Moz of gold (Table 1). The 53,57 Mt resources are split into shallow ore at 350 to 2 000 metres, and ore that is deeper than 2 000 metres, for a phased mining approach. Large zones of well-mineralised uranium ore occur on both Beisa North and Beisa South (Figure 2). The quartz-pebble Beisa Reef is unique in the sense that besides uranium, it also contains relatively high concentrations of gold, with an average grade of 2,0 g/t on Beisa North. On Beisa South, a well-developed channel occurs with gold grades of up to 5 g/t.
An additional ore body, Beatrix Reef (Figure 1), is present on Beisa South and contains 1,54 Moz of Inferred gold resources. This gold-bearing reef is well-known in the area and is currently being successfully extracted by neighbouring mines.
The two rights abut the old Beisa Uranium Mine to the north and south. The Beisa Uranium mine was successfully mined for its high uranium content from 1982 to 1984, but due to the declining uranium price the operation was closed in 1984. However a Measured and Indicated Uranium Resource still exists on the old Beisa Uranium Mine, including surface and underground infrastructure.
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES AND RELATIVELY SHALLOW DEPTHS
The Beisa Reef is structurally overfolded (Figure 3) and is present from as shallow as 350 metres to the north of the historical Beisa Mine. The shallow depths and steep configuration of the Beisa Reef will favour very narrow mining, which will reduce dilution of the uranium-gold ore.
VALUE OF SUNSHINE’S BEISA URANIUM-GOLD PROJECT
Competent Person Charles Muller, from Protek Consulting, completed a SAMVAL compliant valuation of Sunshine’s uranium and gold assets on Beisa North and Beisa South on 15 September 2023.
A Fair Value of USD82,8M was attributed to the uranium resources to a maximum depth of 2 000 mbs on the combined Beisa North and Beisa South Projects. The remaining uranium resources of 43,21 Mlbs, which are located below the 2 000 mbs threshold, were not considered in the valuation as they were not deemed mineable at a profit at short-term market prices. On Beisa South, a Fair Value of USD2,6M was ascribed to the gold resource of the Beatrix Reef. The total Fair Value of the uranium and gold commodities on the combined Project, is USD85,4M (Table 2).
SUMMARY
The Welkom Goldfield has experienced closure of several mines during the past decade as a result of the depletion of underground reserves on these operations. A large selection of well-experienced mining personnel is readily available to mine the vast area on Beisa North and Beisa South.
Sunshine obtained the data from the extensive drilling that was conducted by major mining houses over the two uranium projects. On 31 August 2023, Sunshine declared a major Uranium Resource of 89,23 Mlb at an average grade of 0,78 kg/t of U3O8 (and 2,63 Moz of gold at 1,51 g/t, as by-product) for the Beisa Reef on the combined Beisa North and Beisa South Project areas.
The uranium-bearing Beisa Reef on Sunshine’s Beisa North and Beisa South Projects is the shallowest deposit in the well-known Welkom Goldfield, starting at a depth of only 350 metres below surface. The reef is an unique ore body in the sense that besides the huge uranium resources, it also contains considerable concentrations of gold, which will result in highly reduced mining costs.
The Beisa South Project, where 31 historical boreholes have been drilled, a 4-km wide, well-mineralized channel has been identified. The channel boasts very high grades of up to 2,2 kg/t U3O8 and 5,02 g/t of gold. This high-potential brownfield zone requires a detailed infill-drilling program to confirm existing data. By increasing the confidence level through further drilling on this large project area of 5 640 hectares, the potential of establishing a standalone uranium mine could be determined.
The Beisa North Project, clearly has the potential of being a standalone operation with a resource of 31,36 million tons of ore and 57,23 Mlb of U3O8 at a grade of 0,83 kg/t (and a gold by-product of 2,03 g/t)
For further information on the Project please contact:
info@ssmr.co.za
Or visit our website https://sunshinemineralreserves.co.za
Available on request:
- SAMREC compliant uranium and gold resource statement for Beisa North and South (Protek, 31 August 2023)
- SAMVAL compliant valuation report of Beisa North and South (Protek, 15 September 2023).
APPENDIX
- Detail of Mineral Holdings
Detail of the mineral holdings on the Beisa Project are shown in the table below.
- Exploration History of Sunshine’s Beisa Uranium Projects in the Southern Welkom Goldfield
Pre-Sunshine (1936 to 2020)
- Between 1936 and 2010, a total of 61 surface boreholes were drilled by exploration companies on Beisa North and Beisa South, with an additional 43 boreholes within a 1,5 km distance from the two properties
- 2D seismic survey on Beisa North and adjacent properties by African Selection Trust (1979)
- 3D seismic survey across Beisa North and Beisa Central by Gencor (1984)
- National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource declarations, such as:
- Beisa Reef uranium and gold resources by ExplorMine on behalf of Witwatersrand Cons. Gold Resources Ltd. (Wits Gold) on Beisa North (2009)
- Non-code compliant resource statements were declared, such as:
- Wits Gold’s in-house uranium and gold resource declaration for Beisa South (2010)
- SAMREC compliant resource declarations, such as:
- Beisa Reef uranium and gold resources by Minxcon for Beisa North (2012)
- Beisa Reef uranium and gold resources by Sibanye-Stillwater for Beisa Uranium Mine (2014)
- Scoping Study conducted by Rand Gold on several of Sunshine’s properties (2014)
- Code compliant Prefeasibility Study relating to future uranium mining at Beatrix 4 Shaft (Sibanye, 2014).
Activities carried out by Sunshine since first granting in 2021
- Acquisition of spreadsheets, summary logs, seismic and borehole data of historical exploration (2021)
- SAMREC compliant uranium resources for Beisa North and Beisa South as well as for a contiguous prospecting licence held by Sunshine (CJM Consulting, July 2021 and updated on 2 December 2021)
- SAMVAL compliant valuation of the uranium and gold deposits on the Beisa North and Beisa South Projects as well as for a contiguous prospecting licence held by Sunshine (Geoserve, 24 August 2021)
- SAMREC compliant uranium resources for Beisa North and Beisa South as well as for a contiguous prospecting licence held by Sunshine (CJM Consulting, updated 30 September 2022)
- SAMREC compliant uranium resources for Beisa North and Beisa South (Protek Consulting, 31 August 2023)
- SAMVAL compliant valuation of Beisa North and Beisa South (Protek Consulting, 15 September 2023)
