Cauldron expands Yanrey uranium footprint ahead of resource update

Yanrey drilling extends two uranium systems

Cauldron Energy Limited (ASX:CXU) has finished the exploration campaign that could reshape the size of its Yanrey uranium project, completing 100 air-core holes for 10,506 metres over 76 days. The company says drilling extended Manyingee South about 2,500 metres southeast beyond its existing resource boundary and expanded Manyingee North about 2,500 metres north and 550 metres south, connecting it with Paladin’s Manyingee deposit.

The result confirms the main exploration thesis behind the campaign, but it is not yet a new resource. Cauldron has started work on a JORC Mineral Resource Estimate update and expects to report it within two months. The company’s existing Yanrey resources total 55.6 million pounds of uranium oxide across Bennet Well, Manyingee South and Manyingee North, with the latter two deposits classified as Inferred.

Manyingee South remains open despite patchy grades

At Manyingee South, the latest 23 holes tested the full width of the palaeochannel and confirmed mineralisation in the upstream extension. Reported intersections included 1.54 metres at 298.6 parts per million eU3O8 in hole 26YRAC080, 0.74 metres at 532.0 ppm in 26YRAC081 and 1.34 metres at 288.0 ppm in 26YRAC090. The company also reported a narrower 0.64-metre intersection grading 443.5 ppm in 26YRAC079.

Those results add detail to the 2.5-kilometre mineralisation extension reported earlier, but Cauldron says grades in the upstream area are generally low and patchy. Higher-grade zones appear associated with remnant carbonaceous clays and sandstones, while mineralisation remains open to the south along a palaeochannel that passive seismic data suggests continues for at least another two kilometres.

Manyingee North links toward Paladin deposit

Five holes on the recently acquired E08/2896 tenement helped bridge the Manyingee North resource polygon to the Manyingee redox front. The strongest reported results included 1.02 metres at 376.5 ppm eU3O8 in 26YRAC094, 0.70 metres at 347.9 ppm in 26YRAC095 and 0.52 metres at 454.0 ppm in 26YRAC097.

Cauldron says the mineralised zone spans the palaeochannel and remains open northward and eastward, where passive seismic data indicates a possible connection to the Ashburton palaeochannel. A narrower gap of less than 200 metres remains in the higher-grade central zone and is earmarked for infill drilling. Two Manyingee Northwest holes did not reach bedrock because of hard sandstone and conglomerate, leaving that target unresolved until planned 2027 work.

Uzbek uranium group advances technical due diligence

The drilling milestone arrived alongside a site visit from senior representatives of Navoiyuran, Uzbekistan’s national uranium company, and the country’s Ministry of Mining Industry and Geology, known as MINGEO. The delegation inspected Yanrey’s geology, drill cuttings and core after Cauldron visited Uzbekistan in March and April.

Cauldron said the visit was a technical due diligence step under a September 2025 memorandum of understanding. The parties are working towards more formal and binding documentation covering technical assistance, an operating model and funding, although the company stressed that no funding outcome is guaranteed. The delegation was also due to attend the Global Uranium Conference in Adelaide and meet government representatives in Canberra.

Resource conversion is the next test

The exploration story now has to survive the more exacting arithmetic of resource estimation. The reported eU3O8 figures were derived from downhole gamma logging rather than conventional laboratory assays, and Cauldron says diamond drilling planned for 2027 will provide physical-core validation and further testing. That leaves the upcoming JORC update as the clearest near-term measure of how much of the expanded footprint can be converted into tonnes, grade and contained uranium.