Australian-listed uranium developer Atomic Eagle Limited has identified new zones of uranium mineralisation through its ongoing 2026 drilling programme at the Muntanga Uranium Project in southern Zambia, with exploration at the Muntanga North and Namakande targets expanding the area of known mineralisation.
The company said its 30,000-metre drilling programme is designed to grow the resource base at Muntanga while systematically testing a series of early-stage exploration targets across the project.
The programme includes resource-focused drilling at Chisebuka as well as wide-spaced exploration drilling at Muntanga North and Namakande.
At Muntanga North, Atomic Eagle has completed 64 wide-spaced exploration holes totalling 5,995 metres across Targets 1 to 5. The drilling at Target 5 has identified a uranium-mineralised zone covering an interpreted area of approximately 600 metres by 200 metres.
The company said the mineralisation broadly follows the bedding and has a lenticular geometry, which may indicate a structural influence on its distribution. Importantly, the zone remains open along strike and down dip to the east, providing scope for further expansion through follow-up drilling.
Several uranium intercepts were recorded at Target 5. These included 3.1 metres at 343.78 parts per million (ppm) uranium oxide (U₃O₈), 5.55 metres at 124.28 ppm and 7.07 metres at 132.39 ppm.
Another hole returned 5.55 metres at 135.41 ppm and 3.75 metres at 135.33 ppm U₃O₈. The reported equivalent U₃O₈ intercepts were calculated using a 100 ppm cut-off.
However, Atomic Eagle cautioned that Target 5 remains at an early stage of evaluation. Further drilling and geological interpretation will be needed to establish the geometry, continuity and overall significance of the mineralised zone.
Targets 1 to 3 did not return anomalous uranium mineralisation, while Target 4 produced a discrete anomalous intercept that the company said did not warrant immediate follow-up.
At Namakande, first-pass drilling has also produced encouraging exploration results. The company completed 60 wide-spaced holes for 6,832 metres across its Namakande targets.
At Target 2, drilling intersected a broad zone of shallow-dipping, bedding-conformable uranium mineralisation covering an interpreted area of about 1,000 metres by 400 metres.
Some intercepts exceeded 500 ppm U₃O₈, although the mineralised intervals have generally been relatively thin, at less than two metres.
Among the results at Namakande Target 2 were 1.5 metres at 1,342 ppm U₃O₈, 1.55 metres at 916 ppm, 1.15 metres at 767 ppm and 1.5 metres at 630 ppm.
The company plans to incorporate the results into its geological model alongside radiometric and geochemical data.
Meanwhile, earlier drilling at Chisebuka, which formed the first phase of the 2026 programme, comprised 42 holes for 4,209 metres.
It expanded the northern higher-grade zone to a surface expression of 900 metres by 600 metres, while a separate higher-grade zone in the southwest measures about 830 metres by 400 metres.
Atomic Eagle CEO Phil Hoskins said the company was more than halfway through its active exploration programme, with Muntanga North Targets 6, 7 and 8 still to be tested.
Follow-up drilling at Target 5 will investigate extensions of the mineralised zone, while ground radiometric surveys and first-pass drilling will continue across Targets 6 to 8.
Current drilling at Muntanga North is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Muntanga is Atomic Eagle’s 100%-owned flagship uranium project and currently has a JORC Mineral Resource of 58.8 million pounds of U₃O₈ at 309 ppm.
The company says its ongoing resource growth and optimisation work is aimed at supporting a larger-scale development opportunity.
