Fission Uranium advances PLS feasibility study

With the recent completion by Fission Uranium (TSX: FCU; US-OTC: FUCCF) of a 72-hole geotechnical summer program at the flagship Patterson Lake South (PLS) project in Saskatchewan, on schedule and with all goals successfully met, president and CEO Ross McElroy tells The Northern Miner the work required to complete a feasibility study is off to a “very strong start.”

The Kelowna, British Columbia-based company’s core project hosts the Triple R deposit. This large, high-grade and near-surface uranium deposit occurs within a 3.18-km mineralized trend along the Patterson Lake Conductive Corridor.

The property comprises 17 contiguous claims totalling 31,039 hectares. It is geographically in the southwest margin of Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, notable for hosting the highest-grade uranium deposits and operating mines globally. The deposit has one of the largest lateral mineralized footprints of comparable deposits in the storied Athabasca Basin region and remains open in multiple directions.

In 2019, Fission completed first a hybrid open-pit and underground development scenario and followed up with an underground-only prefeasibility study. “While both mining studies showed positive outcomes, the results of the underground-only study showed stronger merits in most measurable criteria,” McElroy says in an interview.

With the completion of the prefeasibility studies, the next significant steps for the PLS project are to complete a feasibility study, embark on the environmental assessment (EA) phase, and advance permitting, environmental and social governance activities, including signing engagement and capacity funding agreements with key impacted rights-holders.

The underground prefeasibility study recommended that the company advance the PLS project to a feasibility study, for which the company began fieldwork during June.

McElroy says the feasibility work kicked off with Phase 1, comprising extensive data collection using drilling and other fieldwork. The feasibility study follows the results of the company’s prefeasibility study detailing an underground-only mining scenario, which has outlined the potential for PLS to be one of the lowest operating cost uranium mines in the world.

Watch a video interview with Fission President and CEO Ross McElroy here.

Phase 1 work is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022. Concurrent with Phase 1 fieldwork, a 25-hole core drill program targeted the R840W zone, started in mid-June. The R840W drill program aims to upgrade the majority of the R840W resource to the indicated category, which would potentially be included in the resource model used for the feasibility study. In September, the company announced it had appointed Tetra Tech Canada as the lead consultant for the feasibility study.

“The feasibility study’s second phase entails mine design, drawing upon data collected from Phase 1 to refine further the design of the underground mine, surface infrastructure plans and the tailings management facility. More detailed plans for Phase 2 will be announced soon,” says McElroy.

Fission has enjoyed continuous exploration and development success over the past seven years, which has enabled the company to fund its operations through share equity financing in a difficult uranium sector and challenging capital market environment for mineral exploration companies.

The uranium mineralization of the Triple R deposit at PLS occurs within the Patterson Lake Conductive Corridor. It has been traced by core drilling over about 3.18 kilometres of east-west strike length in five separated mineralized zones, which collectively make up the Triple R deposit.

From west to east, these zones are R1515W, R840W, R00E, R780E and R1620E. McElroy says Triple R has over the years evolved into a large, near-surface, basement hosted, structurally controlled high-grade uranium deposit.

The discovery hole (PLS12-022) was announced on November 5, 2012, from what is now referred to as the R00E zone.

The R1515W, R840W and R00E zones make up the western region of the Triple R deposit and are on land, where overburden thickness is generally between 55 to 100 metres.

R1515W is the western-most of the zones and is drill defined to about 90 metres in strike length, about 68 metres across strike and about 220 metres vertical and where mineralization remains open in several directions.

The R840W is about 515 metres to the east along strike of R1515W and has a drill-defined strike length of about 430 metres. R00E is about 485 metres to the east along strike of R840W and is drill defined to about 115 metres in strike length.

The R780E zone and R1620E zones make up the eastern region of the Triple R deposit. Both zones are located beneath Patterson Lake, where water depth is generally less than 6 metres, and overburden thickness is about 50 metres.

The R780E zone is about 225 metres to the east of R00E and has a drill-defined strike length of about 945 metres. R1620E is located about 210 metres along strike to the east of R780E and is about 185 metres in strike length.

McElroy underlines that the mineralization along the Patterson Lake Corridor trend remains prospective along strike in western and eastern directions and that 80% of the property has yet to be explored.

Basement rocks within the mineralized trend are identified primarily as mafic volcanic rocks with varying degrees of alteration. Mineralization is located within and associated with mafic volcanic intrusives with varying degrees of silicification, metasomatic mineral assemblages and hydrothermal graphite.

Fission has been making steady progress in recent months towards achieving its feasibility study aims.

On September 27, Fission announced the completion of a 72-hole geotechnical drill program.

“Preliminary data assessment indicates that the location of proposed infrastructure, including the decline, ventilation shafts, stockpiles, tailings management facility, and mill buildings, is optimal,” says McElroy.

However, further laboratory test work will be required to confirm the initial assessment. The drill program was completed successfully and with minimal delays.

On September 7, the company announced scintillometer results from its summer 2021 metallurgical and geotechnical test work drilling on the R840W zone. Four metallurgical holes and three geotechnical holes had been completed as part of the Phase 1 feasibility study fieldwork.

McElroy says all seven holes intersected mineralization, with all four metallurgical and two geotechnical holes intersecting wide intervals of mineralization.

“Of note, hole PLS21-MET-004 (line 615W) intersected 50.3 metres of continuous mineralization, including 28.5 metres of total composite radioactivity of more than 10,000 counts per second (CPS) (with a peak of 65,500 cps). The metallurgical and geotechnical test work drilling at the R840W is part of the data collection in anticipation that the R840W zone will be included in the feasibility study,” says McElroy.

On August 30, the company announced scintillometer results from its summer 2021 resource upgrade drill program on the 840W zone. All 25 holes hit mineralization, with 19 intercepting significant intervals of more than 10,000 cps radioactivity. This includes PLS21-624 (line 630W), which intersected 57.5 metres of continuous mineralization, including 19.15 metres of total composite radioactivity at more than 10,000 cps (with a peak of 62,400 cps).

“The goal of the summer resource drilling was to upgrade the majority of the R840W zone by decreasing the spacing between drill hole mineralized intercepts with the goal of upgraded to Indicated classification, for potential use in the feasibility study,” he says.

In July, the company announced assays from its winter 2021 drill program on the R780E zone. All 20 holes returned wide intercepts in multiple stacked intervals in each hole, with 15 holes hitting high-grade intervals. The program targeted areas of inferred category mineralization to upgrade it to the indicated category for inclusion in the upcoming feasibility study.

Of note, hole PLS21-602 (line 915E) intersected 69.5 metres of total composite uranium mineralization in multiple stacked intervals, including intervals such as 4.5 metres grading 18.63% uranium oxide in a broader interval of 14.5 metres at 6.11% U3O8.

McElroy says the R840W zone is the second largest of the five high-grade zones that make up the Triple R deposit. Although the R840W has been used in the global resource estimate for the Triple R deposit, it was not considered in the economic analysis of the prefeasibility study because it was classified as an inferred resource.

The Triple R deposit currently hosts a compliant indicated resource of 102.36 million pounds uranium, held in 2.216 million tonnes grading on average 2.1% U3O8. It also has an inferred resource of 32.81 million pounds U3O8 held in 1.22 million tonnes at 1.22%, with mineral resources reported at a cut-off grade of 0.25%.

All the value-add action is taking place against an improving fundamentals backdrop for uranium.

McElroy firmly believes that global uranium demand is rising, driven by an ongoing nuclear reactor construction boom. “Uranium sentiment, as evidenced by government investment in small nuclear reactors as well as traditional reactors, and strongly supportive political statements from countries like the U.S., U.K., and China, is strengthening,” says McElroy. “This is a result of the rapidly growing focus on clean energy and the continually increasing global electrical energy demand.”

In addition, years of low uranium prices have led to the shuttering of higher-cost uranium operations and minimal investment in new production sources.

In 2017, the number of nuclear reactors in the combined construction, planning and proposal stages reached the highest level in 25 years. According to McElroy, the amount of uranium required by utilities currently uncovered by contracts continues to increase rapidly.

The result is a gradual tightening of the supply and demand balance.

“As such, management is optimistic about the long-term prospects for the uranium market and is committed to developing its Triple R deposit at PLS while continuing to explore for additional high-grade occurrences on the property,” says McElroy.

“Fission Uranium is fortunate to have its property located in the politically stable and investment-friendly province of Saskatchewan,” he says. “Saskatchewan is consistently rated amongst the best jurisdictions in the world for mining investment.”

At press time, Fission shares quoted in Toronto traded at 93c apiece, capitalizing the company at about $601.08 million. Despite having come down from recent highs at $1.25, the equity is still up nearly 260% over the past 12-month period.