Noronex has set the end of 2025 as the target for drilling at its Etango North Project (EPL 6776) in Namibia, following the completion of a spectrometry survey that has defined multiple uranium anomalies for follow-up. The survey results, released in September, confirmed significant uranium and thorium highs that will guide soil sampling and ground truthing before shallow drill testing begins later this year.
Etango North is situated in the heart of Namibia’s renowned uranium district, just three kilometres north of Bannerman Energy’s Etango Project, which contains 207 million pounds of U₃O₈ and is currently under construction.
The licence also lies within reach of two operating giants—Rossing and Husab—ensuring that Noronex is exploring in proven ground with established infrastructure and a global reputation.
The company acquired its interest in Etango North through a joint venture with a local Namibian partner, under which Noronex can earn up to an 80% stake. Noronex is both the manager and operator of the project, an arrangement first outlined in its ASX announcement of 15 March 2024.
The ground was initially explored by Bannerman Energy, which in 2015 drilled approximately 12 shallow air-core holes in the southwestern corner of the licence (Anomaly B), testing a uranium-rich airborne anomaly primarily for its potential as a rare earth element source.
This limited work provided the first indications of uranium-rich alaskites on the ground, which are now the focus of Noronex’s modern exploration.
Noronex has since moved to modernise and expand the exploration.
The latest survey was carried out by Terratec Geophysical Services Namibia, covering 244 line kilometres and mapping uranium, thorium, and potassium across the licence.
It successfully defined radiometric anomalies that extend uranium-hosting alaskite mineralisation into Noronex ground.
The survey highlights structural features critical to mineralisation in the Erongo region, including domal positions, antiformal closures, and stratigraphic boundaries such as the Khan–Rossing contact, which have historically controlled the emplacement of uranium-rich alaskites.
Namibia’s hard-rock uranium deposits are typically associated with alaskites—light-coloured leucogranites that intrude Damaran metasediments.
At Etango North, the survey mapped a large granite dome where the Chuos Formation wraps around its margin, providing the setting for thick, flat-lying alaskite intrusives.
These intrusives, emplaced along structural breaks and pressure shadows, are the same styles of mineralisation that underpin Rossing, Husab, and Bannerman’s Etango.
While earlier work on EPL 6776 focused on thorium anomalies at Anomaly B, the new survey has highlighted untested uranium/thorium highs in other parts of the licence.
These anomalies, masked in places by surficial cover, are considered highly prospective and will be the focus of detailed field mapping, soil sampling, and drilling.
The only previous drilling completed on the licence was exploring for thorium anomalies associated with rare earths, and these holes sit in areas that the new data suggest are less prospective for uranium.
The location of untested uranium/thorium highs is therefore seen as highly encouraging.
Noronex is now carrying out ground truthing of the anomalies, including portable XRF soil grids and geochemical profiles.
The company plans a shallow follow-up drilling program to test the third dimension of these anomalies and confirm the presence of flat-lying alaskite sheets within domal closures.
A field investigation is underway to evaluate these areas and confirm the geological units on the ground. Surficial cover masks parts of the anomalies, and the target areas are likely to be larger than demonstrated in the spectrometry survey.
Managing Director and CEO Victor Rajasooriar said the results validate earlier AI modelling and target generation work, refining the search for new uranium deposits.
He told the Etango North Project offers outstanding prospectivity for new uranium discoveries in a world-class uranium district with multiple known deposits and significant current and emerging production.
The results from the recently completed spectrometry survey have validated and fine-tuned the AI modelling and target generation completed by Noronex earlier this year, helping to refine the location of multiple highly anomalous uranium exploration targets.
A field review is currently underway to inform a soil sampling program that will help optimise drilling locations for a planned program later this year.
The survey marks a decisive step for Noronex, confirming that Etango North hosts the same geological building blocks as Namibia’s most important uranium mines.
With geophysical targets in hand and drilling scheduled for the end of 2025, the company is poised to test the ground for a discovery that could stand alongside Rossing, Husab, and Etango as part of Namibia’s uranium future.
