UEX launches fall uranium drilling plan
UEX Corp. [UEX-TSX, UEXCF-OTC] shares were active Thursday after the company said it has launched a fall exploration drilling program at its Christie Lake uranium project in Saskatchewan.
The Christie Lake project is a joint venture held 65.55% by UEX, and 34.45% by JCU (Canada) Exploration Co. Ltd., a company that is owned equally by UEX and Denison Mines Corp.’s [DML-TSX]
Christie Lake is located in the eastern Athabasca Basin north of Saskatchewan, immediately north and along strike from the McArthur River uranium mine.
UEX said drilling this Fall will focus on testing exploration targets along the Yalowega Trend Fault in the Orora North area to follow up on encouraging results in a 2020 program that intersected anomalous uranium geochemistry, faulting and indicative hydrothermal alteration in the basal sandstone coincident with a prominent DC resistivity low anomaly, northeast and along strike of the Orora Deposit.
The Christie Lake project is estimated to contain 588,000 tonnes of grade 1.57% U308, which equates to 20.35 million pounds of U308, using a cut-off of grade 0.2% U308.
The company said its interest in the Orora North area has been enhanced after the recent release of Government of Saskatchewan mineral assessment reports that drilling in 2016 and 2017 along strike of the Orora North area on Cameco Corp.’s [CCO-TSX, CCJ-NYSE] immediately adjacent land packaged intersected high-grade uranium mineralization at the unconformity that averaged 16.3% U308 over 8.1 metres in hole MC-442 from 552.4 metres to 560.5 metres.
UEX said the fall program will consist of up to six holes covering 3,000 metres. Start-up of the program was delayed from the planned late July start due to the challenges in securing a drill crew due to high demand for drillers for projects located outside the Athabasca Basin.
UEX shares advanced on the news, rising 4.2% or $0.015 to 37.5 cents on volume of 1.1 million. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 49.5 cents and 12 cents.
“While the 2020 program results were encouraging, these holes did not intersect they key fault structure at the optimum unconformity target location nor down-dip of the structure into the basement rocks where Athabasca-style uranium mineralization most commonly occurs,” the company said in a press release.
UEX recently raised $21.2 million from a bought deal private placement, money that will be used to meet the company’s obligations under a loan agreement with Denison Mines.
Proceeds are also earmarked for exploration the company’s properties and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
UEX also announced the recent death of its founding director and former Chair of the Board Colin Macdonald. He served on the board from 2001 until his retirement in 2016. Macdonald was an exploration geologist who had worked for Cameco.