Lake Maitland
Lake Maitland
is the largest of Acclaim Uranium's holdings and potentially the most
important. Because of the size and consistency of the deposit, Acclaim
envisages building a uranium mill here to process the highest grade
ores, later becoming a central mill for all of Acclaim's holdings in
the region. It is one of the three deposits collectively referred to
as the 'Murchison Project' (See also Millipede/Abercromby
and Nowthanna).
The
Deposit
The Lake Maitland (formerly Mt Joel) project is located 100 km south-east
of Wiluna in the East Murchison Mineral Field of Western Australia.
Acclaim Uranium NL holds a 100% unencumbered interest in the deposit.
It is a calcrete-type deposit at the north-western end of the lake,
the uranium occurring in bands of carnotite several metres thick in
horizontally bedded calcrete. Averaging only 2 metres below the surface
and outcropping in places, the deposit is of a reasonable grade and
high consistency throughout its 6km length. A high grade core averaging
0.5kg per tonne runs the length of the deposit.
Acclaim has done no new drilling
at Lake Maitland but has extensively analysed the old Esso/CEC data
to provide the new resource estimates.
The
Intention
 The
plan is to mine the highest grade ores in a long, shallow pit which
requires the removal of only a small amount of overburden, to provide
a quick profit to allow for expansion of the operation. ICF Kaiser has
completed a scoping study for Acclaim which envisaged a 750,000-tonne/year
ore treatment plant at Lake Maitland. Once the plant was up and running,
Acclaim would begin transporting ore from Nowthanna
and Millipede/Abercromby to
the mill, saving them the cost of building small mills all over WA but
creating an ongoing transportation hazard for the people and environment
of the Murchison district.
Even with this corner cutting,
Acclaim's study on the mill showed that with market and political conditions
as they are, the economics are risky. Acclaim say they are awaiting
results on their Langer Heinrich prospect in Namibia before proceeding
any further with plans for Lake Maitland. It is however, one of the
WA deposits to watch closely.
|
Lake Maitland Photo
Gallery
Lake
Maitland in Brief
| Discovered:
1971 |
| Average Grade:
0.52 kg/tonne
|
| Reserves:
7860 tonnes |
| Operators:
Acclaim Uranium |
| Shire:
Wiluna |
| Barwidgee Pastoral
Station |
Web
Links
|
