Core Energy Minerals Locks in Namibia Uranium Earn-In With Deep Yellow to Control 826km²
Key Takeaways
- CR3 can earn up to a 51% interest in the Nova JV by spending AUD$5.0M across two stages — AUD$2.0M within 18 months for 25%, then a further AUD$3.0M over 24 months for the remaining 26%.
- The Nova JV tenements include Barking Gecko, a basement-hosted uranium system with historical drill intercepts up to 60m @ 304ppm eU₃O₈ and 21m @ 886ppm eU₃O₈, with mineralisation remaining open.
- CR3 has been appointed manager of the Nova JV, giving it direct control over the exploration programme and ensuring capital is deployed into ground-level work rather than an acquisition premium.
- Combined with its 100%-owned Gemsbok and Oryx tenements, CR3 now holds 826.9km² of uranium tenure across four licences in the Erongo Region — the same corridor hosting Husab, Rössing, Etango, Tumas, and Langer Heinrich.
- A maiden CR3 drilling programme across priority targets is planned to commence in the September quarter, representing a concrete near-term catalyst for investors.
CR3 secures earn-in agreement with Deep Yellow and Toro Energy over advanced Namibia uranium ground
Core Energy Minerals (ASX:CR3) has executed a staged exploration earn-in agreement with uranium heavyweights Deep Yellow Ltd (ASX:DYL) and former ASX-listed Toro Energy Ltd, giving CR3 the right to earn up to a 51% interest in the Nova JV (Nova Energy (Namibia) (Proprietary) Limited). The agreement covers two granted exploration licences, EPL3669 and EPL3670, in Namibia’s Erongo Region — a province that already hosts world-class uranium operations including Husab, Rössing, Etango, Tumas, and Langer Heinrich.
The deal is structured as a two-stage earn-in: CR3 can earn an initial 25% equity interest by spending AUD$2.0M within 18 months, then acquire a further 26% (total 51%) through an additional AUD$3.0M in exploration expenditure over the following 24 months. CR3 has also been appointed as manager of the Nova JV for the duration of the earn-in period. Combined with its two 100%-owned tenements, Gemsbok (EPL9725) and Oryx (EPL9652), CR3’s total uranium tenure in Namibia now spans 826.9km² across four tenements.
The existing Nova JV ownership prior to the earn-in is held by Reptile Mineral Resources and Exploration Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Deep Yellow Ltd, ASX:DYL) at 65%, Nova Energy (Africa) (Pty) Ltd (a subsidiary of former ASX-listed Toro Energy Ltd) at 25%, and Sixzone Investments (Pty) Ltd (Namibia) at 10%.
Tony Greenaway, Managing Director, Core Energy Minerals
“The Nova Joint Venture Project with uranium heavy-weights Deep Yellow and Nova Energy represents a transformational expansion of Core Energy Minerals’ footprint in the world class uranium mining jurisdiction of Namibia and is a vote of confidence in the company’s uranium technical expertise.”
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What is a uranium earn-in agreement — and why does it matter?
An earn-in agreement allows CR3 to acquire an equity interest in a joint venture by committing exploration expenditure over time — rather than paying a large cash sum upfront to purchase the asset outright. The more CR3 spends on the ground, the larger its ownership stake becomes. It is a capital-efficient way for a junior explorer to gain access to an advanced, drill-defined project that larger partners have already invested heavily to develop.
For CR3, the structure works as follows:
- Stage 1: Spend AUD$2.0M within 18 months to earn a 25% equity interest in the Nova JV
- Stage 2: Spend a further AUD$3.0M within the next 24 months to earn an additional 26%, bringing the total to 51%
- Manager role: CR3 controls the exploration programme as appointed JV manager, meaning capital is directed into ground-level work rather than an acquisition premium
The practical result is that CR3 gains meaningful exposure to an advanced uranium system in one of the world’s top-ranked uranium jurisdictions — with the previous work done and the datasets already on the table.
Barking Gecko and a portfolio of advanced prospects with real drill results
The Nova JV tenements sit within the Central Zone of the Damara Orogen, the structural-metamorphic belt that hosts Namibia’s largest uranium deposits. The licences contain both basement-hosted alaskite uranium systems and palaeochannel-hosted calcrete uranium, providing a dual-style exploration opportunity across the package.
Barking Gecko — the headline target
Barking Gecko is a basement-hosted uranium system on EPL3669 with a substantial body of prior drilling by the previous JV partners. Reverse Circulation (RC) and Diamond Drilling (DD) programmes have defined multiple thick, continuous zones of uranium mineralisation hosted within stacked leucogranite sheets. Detailed geological modelling has identified a consistent pattern of parallel mineralised intrusive sheets extending over several hundred metres of strike and depth — and mineralisation remains open.
Selected significant intercepts from historical drilling (all reported as downhole lengths; true widths not yet determined) include:
- 45m @ 222ppm eU₃O₈ from 120m (TN253RC)
- 21m @ 886ppm eU₃O₈ from 199m (TN258RC)
- 27m @ 251ppm eU₃O₈ from 234m (TN258RC)
- 60m @ 304ppm eU₃O₈ from 150m (TN270DDT — diamond drill hole)
- 9m @ 954ppm eU₃O₈ from 88m (TN270DDT — diamond drill hole)
The combination of thick intercepts and high-grade zones within the same system is what distinguishes Barking Gecko from an early-stage target. CR3 intends to undertake detailed geophysical survey work, structural logging, and interpretation of available drill core before advancing to follow-up diamond drilling.
A pipeline of additional targets across the licences
Beyond Barking Gecko, the Nova JV package contains several additional prospects across both licences. These represent a genuine exploration pipeline, not confirmed deposits, and will be subject to further work as CR3 integrates the historical datasets.
| Prospect | Licence | Style | Status / Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iguana | EPL3669 | Basement (black quartz-vein) | Priority follow-up target; best results beneath weak surface radiometric response — indicates a blind, structurally controlled system |
| Speke / Bowsprit Basement | EPL3669 | Hydrothermal vein-style | Mineralisation open; positive results in 8 of 16 holes; structurally focused follow-up drilling warranted |
| Cape Flat | EPL3670 | Alaskite-related basement | 400–500m wide, 3.5km long anomalous zone; southern extension buried under cover — potential continuation of ~2km under colluvium |
| Turtle’s Neck | EPL3669 | Alaskite-associated | Shallow intersections identified; structural review to be undertaken before follow-up drilling |
| Bowsprit / Day Gecko / Skink palaeochannels | EPL3669 & EPL3670 | Calcrete palaeochannel | Multiple channels mapped; mineralisation confirmed at Namaqua, Boulton’s, and Skink; 5km of Bowsprit channel remains untested |
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District-scale position consolidated across the Etango–Husab–Tumas corridor
The earn-in agreement completes a district-scale consolidation for CR3 across one of the world’s most fertile uranium provinces. Four tenements totalling 826.9km² now give the company a spectrum of exploration optionality — from greenfields ground to drill-ready advanced targets — all within the same geological corridors hosting some of Africa’s most significant uranium resources.
The 100%-owned Gemsbok and Oryx projects
Gemsbok (EPL9725), granted 6 July 2025, is located along the southern extension of “Alaskite Alley” — the same intrusive corridor hosting Etango, Husab, and Rössing. Early reconnaissance by CR3’s technical team has identified outcrops interpreted as alaskite exposed in road cuttings in the eastern portion of the licence, a direct indicator that the same intrusive phases responsible for those world-class deposits extend into CR3’s ground. Dome-like structural culminations have also been identified — key controls on alaskite emplacement and focused fluid flow elsewhere in the Erongo region.
Oryx (EPL9652), granted 4 December 2025, is positioned immediately south-east of Deep Yellow’s Tumas palaeochannel system, whose Tumas deposits collectively exceed 100Mlbs U₃O₈. Regional geophysics indicates that palaeochannel branches and tributaries trend toward the Oryx licence boundary. Numerous calcrete and gypcrete uranium occurrences near the licence boundary provide proof of concept for palaeochannel-hosted uranium mineralisation. The project also contains unexplored dome-like basement structures, giving it dual-style potential across both palaeochannel and alaskite systems.
What’s next — exploration commencing in the September quarter
CR3 has outlined a planned exploration programme it intends to execute immediately, commencing in the September quarter:
- Integration of Nova JV datasets into a unified regional geological model
- Immediate engagement of an African-based geological team
- Structural, geophysical, and geochemical analysis and reinterpretation across all four tenements
- Target ranking for both basement and palaeochannel systems
- Maiden CR3 drilling programme across priority targets
The September quarter start represents a concrete near-term catalyst for investors tracking the stock. Taken together, the district-scale land position, the capital-efficient earn-in structure, and the proximity of drill-ready targets at Barking Gecko frame CR3’s core investment thesis: a junior explorer with a defined pathway to meaningful uranium exposure in Namibia, supported by partners with deep in-country technical track records and datasets that took years and significant capital to assemble.
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