Vancouver – Results from the final two holes of the 2006 Winter-Spring drill program by Areva Resources Canada, a subsidiary of French energy giant Areva (ARVCF-O), and UEX Corporation (UEX-T, UEXCF-O) at its Shea Creek joint venture in the western Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan has returned further high-grade uranium values.
New pilot hole SHE-118 at the Kianna deposit intersected 8.6 metres (from 703.5 metres depth) averaging 5.62% U3O8, including 15.07% U3O8 over one metre right above and at the unconformity. The intercept extends the strike length of the high grade Kianna mineralization by 30 metres to the southeast. A series of directional drill holes will be launched from the pilot hole to test for further extensions of the mineralization
Another drill hole, SHE-115-7, also returned uranium mineralization in a 4.1-metre intercept grading 0.94% U3O8 associated with the unconformity plus some further mineralized intervals deeper in the basement complex.
Drilling at the Kianna deposit over the past three years has identified three types of uranium mineralization:
- Perched sandstone-hosted mineralization in lenses or zones, typically tens of metres above the unconformity contact;
- Unconformity-type mineralization at or near the contact of the sandstones with the basement rock; and
- Basement-hosted mineralization found up to 200-metres below the unconformity contact.
Mineralization at Kianna has been traced by drilling over 200 metres of strike and across 100 metres of width, remaining open in all directions.
The program uses a navigational drilling system (Navi-drilling), allowing a number of directional cuts from an initial pilot hole. The technology uses a steerable drill bit allowing several target intersections, or unconformity impacts, with cost savings and increased accuracy.
In early-2004, UEX entered an agreement with Cogema, now Areva Resources Canada, to earn a 49% interest in ten western Athabasca Basin uranium projects, including Shea Creek. UEX is funding $30 million in exploration over 11 years and has recently reached the mid-point (24.5%) in its earn-in. The remaining 24.5% can be acquired for outstanding expenditures of about $15 million. Areva retains operatorship on the projects.
UEX was formed by Pioneer Metals (PSM-T, PNMTF-O) and Cameco (CCO-T, CCJ-N) in 2002 to explore uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin. Pioneer transferred its uranium portfolio to UEX for 46.5 million shares, which were subsequently redistributed to shareholders. Cameco transferred its advanced-stage Hidden Bay project in exchange for 31 million shares, making it the largest stakeholder in the company, currently owning about 21.7%.
Shares of UEX rallied about 10% to close at the $3.68-level following the drill results, giving the uranium explorer a $664-million market capitalization based on its 180.4-million shares outstanding. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $2.62-to-$5.46.
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