Denison drills 24.9% eU3O8 over 4.2 metres at Wheeler River, Saskatchewan
Drill testing on the K-North trend south of the Gryphon deposit at the Wheeler River Project in the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan. Photo courtesy Denison Mines Corp.
Denison Mines Corp. [DML-TSX; DNN-NYSE American] drilled multiple intersections of high-grade uranium mineralization beyond the previously defined extents of the high-grade domain in the phase 1 area of the zone A portion of the Phoenix uranium deposit at the company’s effective 95%-owned Wheeler River uranium project in northern Saskatchewan.
Three drill holes were completed during the fall of 2021 to follow up the discovery of high-grade uranium mineralization (22.0% triuranium octoxide (U3O8) equivalent over 8.6 metres) in drill hole GWR-045, which was located outside of the previously defined extent of the high-grade domain of Phoenix zone A. All three follow-up holes returned intervals of high-grade uranium mineralization, including massive uraninite mineralization in GWR-049.
Drill hole GWR-049 intersected 24.9% eU3O8 over 4.2 metres. This drill hole was expected to intersect only a narrow interval of high-grade uranium mineralization along the northwestern boundary of the Phoenix zone A high-grade resource domain, approximately 17 metres northeast of GWR-045. The drill hole intersected a thick interval of high-grade unconformity-associated uranium mineralization that, coupled with the results of GWR-045, is expected to expand the volume of the high-grade domain to the northwest outside of the extents of the same in the current resource model.
Dril hole WR-787 intersected 3.6% eU3O8 over 3.5 metres. This drill hole was designed to test the extents of the high-grade mineralization discovered in GWR-049, by targeting the unconformity approximately six metres north of the mineralization in GWR-049. Mineralization in WR-787 was encountered at the unconformity, and included a mineralized interval grading 15.2% e U3O8 over 0.7 metres.
Drill hole WR-784 intersected 1.2% eU3O8 over 2.1 metres. This drill hole was designed to test the extents of high-grade mineralization discovered by drill hole GWR-045, by targeting the unconformity approximately six metres northwest of the mineralized intersection in GWR-045. The drill hole intersected perched uranium mineralization lying approximately 6.5 metres above the unconformity.
Andy Yackulic, PGeo, Denison’s director, exploration, commented: “The grade and thickness of mineralization in holes GWR-045 and GWR-049 significantly exceeded what was predicted by the Phoenix block model. We believe these results will support an expansion of the volume of the high-grade mineralized domain in phase 1 area of zone A. Follow-up drilling encountered additional uranium mineralization that is also expected to be additive to future updates to the resource model for Phoenix zone A. Of particular interest is the perched mineralization discovered in WR-784, which presents a style of mineralization that has not been previously encountered at Phoenix. As this intersection is located outside the extents of previous drilling at Phoenix, the potential exists to identify additional perched mineralization along the northwest margin of the deposit.