JOGMEC Finds Copper and Uranium Geology in South Australia

Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), an incorporated administrative agency established by Japanese government to assist upstream activities for mineral resources and energy, announced on Monday the agency discovered geology of mineralized copper and uranium in Roxby Downs area of Southern Australia. Roxby Downs area is located at 30 kilometers southwest from Olympic Dam mine, the world largest copper and uranium deposit.JOGMEC contracted in co-exploration of Roxbi Downs with Australian exploring companies, Minotaur Exploration and Toro Energy, in September 2007. JOGMEC can gain 51% shares in the project by assumption of the exploration costs at A$ 2 million (approximately 200 million yen).They carried out a boring investigation to 1,559 meters depth in EL3762 area of Minotaur Exploration and found a little copper pyrites among volcanic rocks of Middle Proterozoic and cataclastic iron oxide rocks. Uranium content was 174 ppm at 1,470.5 meters depth, 136 ppm at 1,471 meters depth and 119 ppm at 1,486.5 meters depth measured by a portable XRF analyzer. Uranium geology was also discovered in a narrow zone of several centimeters thickness inside coarse-grained sandstones in a sedimentary rock layer.