Noble Plains Uranium drill permitting underway in Shirley Basin Uranium District, Wyoming
Noble Plains Uranium Corp. [TSXV: NOBL; OTCQB: NBLXF; FSE: INE0] has submitted a drill permit application for a 15-hole program on the recently optioned Shirley Central Property just one month after acquiring the strategic claims. Located in the heart of Wyoming’s Shirley Basin, a prolific and infrastructure-ready uranium district, this initiative marks a step forward in the company’s strategy to rapidly convert brownfield assets into compliant uranium resources.
The Shirley Central Property is surrounded by two of the most active uranium developers in the United States-Ur-Energy Inc. and Uranium Energy Corp. Several Noble Plains claims lie directly within Ur-Energy’s permit boundary, while others are encircled by UEC’s land package, positioning Noble Plains squarely in the centre of a rapidly evolving production hub. Ur-Energy’s Shirley Basin Project currently hosts a 43-101 compliant Measured and Indicated Resource totalling 8.816 million pounds U₃O₈ at an average grade of 0.23% and is currently under construction.
“This is exactly the kind of brownfield opportunity that aligns with our corporate mission-projects with historical workings, clear geological upside, and the potential to be fast-tracked into defined resources,” stated Drew Zimmerman, President of Noble Plains. “With permitting now underway, we are executing on our plan to advance this asset through focused, modern exploration with the objective of delineating a compliant resource at Shirley Central.”
The company has identified at least five distinct high-density drilling zones from historical records and aerial photographs originally produced by Kerr-McGee and others. These areas-positioned between former producing open-pit mines-feature drill spacing as tight as 25m x 25m, indicative of targeted delineation for higher-grade uranium mineralization. This historic footprint offers a robust foundation for a cost-effective and high-confidence drill campaign.
“Given the intensity and precision of historic drilling, we can assess the resource potential with a relatively limited number of new holes,” commented Paul Cowley, CEO of Noble Plains. “This not only accelerates our exploration timeline but does so in a capital-efficient manner.”
The Company anticipates that with permitting underway, drilling could commence by the end of the third quarter this year. A Wyoming-based drill contractor has been secured, and logistical preparations are underway.
The Shirley Basin has produced more than 52 million pounds of U₃O₈ at an average grade of 0.22% between 1960 and 1992-over three times the current U.S. average. As part of Wyoming, the top uranium-producing state in the U.S. and an NRC Agreement State, the Basin benefits from a streamlined permitting environment and longstanding regulatory support for in-situ recovery (ISR) operations.
With ISR now the dominant mining method in Wyoming, Noble Plains’ newly optioned claims offer exceptional leverage to modern, low-impact development methods. ISR provides lower capital intensity, minimal surface disturbance, and no tailings, aligning with the company’s commitment to environmentally responsible exploration.