Basin Energy Limited (ASX: BSN) shared some great news about its recent rock chip assay results from the Björkberget (‘Bjork’), Rävaberget (‘Rava’), and Trollberget projects in Sweden. These results come from a mapping programme completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.
These projects are located in the Arjeplog-Arvidsjaur-Sorsele uranium district, and Basin is looking into the potential for green energy metals in the area. The company, interested in three projects in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, has recently added some exploration assets in Scandinavia.
“The assay results from our first pass reconnaissance mapping programme highlight the outstanding potential of this portfolio. The presence of anomalous values in key commodities further strengthens the area’s prospectivity, indicating a potentially robust mineralised system at play,” Basin’s Managing Director, Pete Moorhouse, commented.
“The potential for blind mineralisation, particularly in our recently granted Trollberget project, over a significant strike length is highly compelling when we see such tenor of mineralisation. Additional results from our Q4 2024 reconnaissance sampling programmes at the Virka, Hakantrop, Prastrun and Lotto projects are expected imminently,“ Pete Moorhouse added.
The mineralisation discovered in the rock samples is tied to a north-northeast trending structure. At Bjork, the mineralisation is mainly found in those structures, while at Rava, it’s spread out in the granitic rocks. Meanwhile, the Trollberget project has some glacial cover, but there’s evidence of mineralisation in both glacial boulders and exposed rocks.
Twenty-two samples were collected and sent to ALS Laboratory in Piteå, Sweden, where they confirmed high-grade uranium-lead mineralisation and significant amounts of heavy rare earth elements. Ten samples had U3O8 values over 0.3%, with two exceeding detection limits. There were also three samples showing rare earth oxide values above 0.1%.
Sweden has a rich mineral exploration and mining history, with major players like Boliden and Lundin Mining Corp. The country gets 40% of its energy from nuclear power and plans to boost this by adding two new reactors by 2035 as part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. However, uranium mining and exploration are currently off the table. Any uranium found in ores must be treated as waste.
In February 2024, the Swedish government kicked off an inquiry to consider lifting the ban, and by December of that year, the inquiry recommended allowing uranium exploration and mining. This could affect the mineral resources that Basin is looking into. Additionally, in October 2024, Swedish courts approved the construction of a long-term nuclear waste repository.
Basin picked up the Rava and Bjork projects during its acquisition of Normetco AS in the fourth quarter of 2024. They staked the Trollberget project after some initial visits in 2024, which got the green light from the Swedish Mining Inspectorate in late January 2025. These projects are located in northern Sweden, about 140 km northwest of Skellefteå and 160 km southwest of Luleå.
These projects are in a promising metallogenic belt in the Fennoscandian Shield, known for various mineral deposits. Geologically, the area features Proterozoic-aged metavolcanic sequences and large granitoid intrusions, with many structural complexities due to different geological events, especially the Svecofennian orogeny.
This region is rich in minerals, especially in volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits and orogenic gold, and there’s a good chance for shear-hosted and epigenetic uranium and rare earth element (REE) mineralisation.
