By: Energy capital & power

Australian company Pioneer Lithium has been granted a prospecting license for the Botsalano Uranium Project in Southern Botswana.

Pioneer Lithium will explore an 815 km² area, located within the uranium, iron ore and copper-rich region known as the Botsalano Ring Complex.

“Multiple styles of uranium mineralisation are prospective including breccia hosted uranium mineralisation as seen elsewhere in brecciated iron oxide flooded environments and leucogranites like those found in Namibia at the Rossing Mine and Pioneers Warmbad assets,” stated Michael Beven, CEO, Pioneer Lithium.

Beven said Orano’s £1.8 billion acquisition of the project in 2017 showcases its geological prospectivity.

Pioneer Lithium will compile historical exploration and geophysical data from the South African Council for Geoscience and the Botswana Geoscience Institute to better understand the project and region’s geology.

A field program will be conducted to identify uranium deposits and an exploratory geological program to gauge the project’s potential.

The company now has three uranium projects, including in Namibia and the U.S., under efforts to contribute to the growing global demand for critical minerals.