Uranium
Prospectivity
Most uranium production in the Northern Territory (NT) has been from the Alligator Rivers Uranium Field in the eastern Pine Creek Orogen. Uranium mining in the NT commenced in 1953 in the Rum Jungle and South Alligator fields, and a second phase of mining in the Alligator Rivers uranium field near Jabiru commenced in 1980 and ended with the closure of the Ranger uranium mine in January 2021. Energy Resources of Australia Ltd ceased production at the Ranger uranium mine after a 40 year mine life that produced over 132,000 tonnes of U3O8. The mine is now undergoing rehabilitation that is due to be completed in 2026.
The Alligator Rivers field contains unconformity-related uranium deposits that locally contain more than 100,000 tonnes contained U3O8, with grades generally in the range 0.2-2% U3O8. These deposits, which include Ranger, Jabiluka, Koongarra and Nabarlek, are typically hosted within the Palaeoproterozoic basement of the Cahill Formation (Pine Creek Orogen), close to the unconformity with the basal MacArthur Basin.
Current exploration in the Alligator Rivers field is focussed in western Arnhem Land, where a maiden resource was announced at the Angularli deposit in 2018. Elsewhere in the Pine Creek Orogen, smaller but locally high-grade vein-style and other basement-hosted uranium deposits occur in the South Alligator, Rum Jungle and Hayes Creek uranium fields.
Sandstone-type deposits occur in Palaeozoic sediments in the Ngalia and Amadeus basins in central Australia. The largest of these deposits are the Angela deposit in the Amadeus Basin and the Bigrlyi deposit in the Ngalia Basin. Cenozoic palaeochannel-hosted uranium has also been identified in the Ngalia Basin area, and has the potential to become an important exploration target in Central Australia.
There are also significant uranium occurrences in the basal southern McArthur Basin and underlying basement of the Murphy Province, close to the Westmoreland uranium deposit which occurs in adjacent regions of Queensland.
The Aileron Province, Warramunga Province and Tanami Region contain known uranium prospects and locally uranium-enriched granites. These provinces and overlying basins and palaeochannels represent greenfields uranium exploration targets.
Read the uranium factsheet PDF (2.2 MB)
Projects
| Region | Name | Company |
|---|---|---|
| Pine Creek Orogen | Ranger | Energy Resources Australia Pty Ltd |
| Region | Name | Resource | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ngalia Basin | Bigrlyi | 7.5 Mt @ 0.13% U3O8 0.12% V2O5 | Energy Metals Ltd |
| Region | Name | Resource | Compnay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aileron Province | Napperby | 9.5 Mt @ 0.038% U3O8 | Core Lithium Ltd |
| Amadeus Basin | Angela | 10.7 Mt @ 0.13% U3O8 | Elevate Uranium Ltd |
| Murphy Province | Eva | 0.54 Mt @ 0.12% U3O8 | UAU Pty Ltd |
| Ngalia Basin | Cappers | 22 Mt @ 0.015% U3O8 | Energy Metals Ltd |
| Ngalia Basin | Malawiri | 0.42 Mt @ 0.13% U3O8 | Energy Metals Ltd |
| Ngalia Basin | Walbiri | 10.98 Mt @ 0.064% U3O8 | Energy Metals Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | Angularli | 1.37 Mt @ 1.09% U3O8 | Deep Yellow Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | Thunderball | 1.05 Mt @ 0.08% U3O8 | PNX Metals Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | Tin Camp Creek | 0.94 Mt @ 0.31% U3O8 | Alligator Energy Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | Cleo | 6.8 Mt @ 0.035% U3O8 | Kingsland Minerals Ltd |
| Region | Name | Exploration result | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Creek Orogen | Angularli | 10.3 m @ 1.03% U3O8 | Deep Yellow Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | Cleo | 23 m @ 0.132% U3O8 | Kingsland Minerals Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | Nabarlek North | 13 m @ 0.28% U3O8 | DevEx Resources Pty Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | U40 | 5 m @ 0.54% U3O8 | DevEx Resources Pty Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | U42 | 2 m @ 0.6% U3O8 | DevEx Resources Pty Ltd |
| Pine Creek Orogen | Thunderball | 15 m @ 1.35% U3O8 (historic intercept) | Patronus Resources Ltd |
More information
- Lally and Bajwah 2006. Uranium deposits of the Northern Territory. NTGS Report 20.
- Sinclair P 2019. Refreshing the Alligator River Uranium Field exploration toolkit - Angularli and Such Wow, AGES 2019 Proceedings Volume.
- Smith BP 2018. Mineralogy variations in the Mamadawerre Sandstone, Kombolgie Subgroup at Angularli Uranium Prospect: Applications to exploration in other areas, AGES 2018 Proceedings Volume.
- Schmid et al 2012. JSU Ngalia Basin Uranium Mineral System Project, NTGS Record 2012-003.
- Potma et al 2012. JSU-ERA Ranger Mineral System Project, NTGS Record 2012-004.
- Search for further NTGS publications on uranium.
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