Greenvale Energy Defines Potential Paleochannel Uranium Target at Thunderball’s Powers Prospect

Greenvale Energy (ASX: GRV) has defined a large-scale potential paleochannel uranium target at the Powers prospect, within newly granted EL34157 at its Thunderball project in the Northern Territory.

Ongoing field exploration defined the north-to-south trending target over approximately nine kilometres in strike length and up to 400 metres in width, significantly enhancing Powers’ scale and exploration potential.

Ground-based mapping and sampling has verified airborne radiometric survey data, with hand-held scintillometer and portable X-ray fluorescence measurements returning anomalous results between three and four times higher than the natural average background reading of six parts per million eU (enriched uranium).

The strong correlation between ground radiometrics and the underlying Tindall Limestone — which is stratigraphically the oldest of the carbonate formations in the Cambro-Ordovician aged Daly Basin — is thought to support the interpretation of potential calcrete-hosted mineralisation at Powers.

Economical Uranium Source

Paleochannel-style uranium deposits are the world’s largest source of economically mined uranium.

The majority of this style of deposits are located in the Chu-Sarysu and Syr-Darya basins of Kazakhstan, which produced 39% of global supply in 2024.

Australia is currently the fourth-largest global producer of uranium, with annual production predominantly from the South Australian paleochannel system that hosts the Beverley-Four Mile deposits owned by private Adelaide explorers Heathgate Resources and Quasar Resources.

Exploration for calcrete-hosted uranium deposits can be assisted by electromagnetics and passive seismic techniques, which are reported to be highly effective at mapping the base of paleochannel systems.

Greenvale is planning a close-spaced airborne electromagnetic survey to be completed across the Powers prospect in the coming months, as well as a project-wide review of Thunderball’s historical exploration data.

Powers Prospect Discovery

Managing director Alex Cheeseman credited Greenvale’s exploration team for discovering the Powers prospect less than six months after EL34157 was granted.

“Our systematic approach of using airborne and remote sensing data to generate large-scale targets followed by on-ground mapping and geochemical analysis is proving to be effective, with each step successfully refining targets to a point where we are confident to commit to drill testing,” he said.

“We have now defined a substantial target at Powers that extends for approximately 9km, with the geological setting and ground-based radiometric response supporting our interpretation of a potential paleochannel-hosted uranium system.”

“We have commenced the permitting and approvals process for maiden drilling at Powers—it is an area that has seen relatively little modern uranium exploration, and we are excited by the potential to make a new discovery in the Northern Territory.”

Mr Cheeseman said the identification of a potential paleochannel target at Powers would provide Greenvale with an “exciting opportunity” to conduct cost-efficient drill testing of near-surface and at-surface targets.