Titan Uranium confirms SLC at Castle North and South
2006-12-20 19:55 ET - News Release
Mr. Philip Olson reports
TITAN RELEASES CASTLE DRILL RESULTS
Titan Uranium Inc. has completed the first phase of diamond drilling and all assays have been received for its Castle North and South properties in the southwest portion of the Athabasca basin of Saskatchewan. This drilling confirmed the presence on Titan's properties of the Saskatoon Lake conductor (SLC), a structurally complexed corridor that hosts the nearby Shea Creek mineralized zones of Areva/UEX. Drill holes successfully pierced the sandstone/basement unconformity and graphitic sediments, key guides to unconformity-style uranium mineralization.
Drilling on the Castle North and Castle South targeted the axis of a basement conductor identified by a deep-penetrating electromagnetic geophysical survey. At the depths encountered, this conductive zone defines a corridor approximately 1,000 metres wide. The initial drill phase produced widely spaced pierce points along the trace of this conductor. The SLC is interpreted as a series of graphitic faults and splays.
Four holes with two wedge cuts totalling 3,379 metres were drilled on the Castle South property. Moving north, this drilling intersected the sandstone-bedrock unconformity at progressively deeper levels. The southernmost hole intersected altered basement at 650 metres. The northernmost hole intersected comparable basement rock types at a depth of 725 metres. All holes showed regolith development with strong hematization of the early Proterozoic basement. Elevated radioactivity was noted at the unconformity and in the underlying basement assemblages. Basement quartzites and pelitic gneisses averaged three and five parts per million, respectively, spiking as high as 16 parts per million in association with graphitic faults near the unconformity.
Drilling of the SLC on the Castle North property intersected the basement unconformity at a depth of 1,212 metres and the hole returned low uranium values (0.15 part to 12 parts per million). Two additional holes on the Castle North property were abandoned when the projected depth to the unconformity exceeded 1,500 metres. At depths of greater than one kilometre, the conductive zone on the Castle North property present challenges beyond current technical capabilities. Future drilling on the Castle North property will focus to the east and north, looking for uplifted and mineralized basement blocks.
Castle North project
AREVA's past-producing Cluff Lake mine is within five kilometres of Castle North claims. During its operational history, the Cluff Lake mine produced over 62.5 millions pounds of U3O8 at a grade of 1.3 per cent U and the site is currently being decommissioned, its reserves having been exhausted.
More recently, Areva/UEX has announced the discovery of at least two additional deposits, the Anne and Colette, approximately five kilometres to the south. Only the Anne has been the subject of mineral resources evaluation with 40 million pounds averaging 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent U, still open to the north and south (UEX news in Stockwatch of March 18, 2004). Recent releases (UEX, Nov. 21, 2006), document mineralized zones that are perched in the sandstones above the unconformity, at the unconformity/basement contact and basement hosted. Castle North and Castle South have the potential to host comparable mineralized structures. The first phase of exploration on the property was a deep-penetrating airborne geophysical survey. In November, 2005, and April, 2006, Fugro Airborne surveys flew the Castle North property in two segments, with Megatem II providing deep magnetic and electromagnetic coverage over the Castle mineral dispositions.
Interpretations of these geophysical data showed the projection of the SLC (host to Areva/UEX's Shea Creek deposits) crossing onto disposition S-107577 approximately 750 metres west of provincial road 955. The depth to this basement conductor axis was obscured by an east-west-trending diabase dike, but projections from drill intersections to the south suggested the basement and unconformity may be in the range of 900 metres downhole. Drill hole TUE-06-06 has since shown the basement to be considerably deeper (1,200 metres) than this initial estimate.
As a follow-up to the Megatem II survey, Titan drilled the Castle North property with a three-hole, 1,940-metre program between July 12 and Sept. 15. Due to concerns about the depth to the unconformity, this initial phase of drilling was laid out on a hole-by-hole basis. Hole specifics including collar co-ordinates, direction, inclination and depth are given in the following table.
Hole No. UTM N UTM E Depth Depth U/C Azimuth Inclination
(metres) (metres) (degrees)
TUE-06-05 6461650 583800 178.2 N/A N/A -88
TUE-06-06 6461300 584000 1,260.5 1,211.7 N311 degrees E -88.5
TUE-06-07 6462850 586900 500.0 N/A N284 degrees E -88.8
The core from TUE-06-06 showed elevated scintillometer counts at the unconformity and immediately below it in the altered, hematized basement lithologies; however, no anomalous uranium values were returned from the intervals assayed.
The first hole (TUE-06-05) in this program was collared 300 metres north of the southern property boundary. Poor ground conditions caused by dense fracturing within weakly consolidated sandstones resulted in the rods being irretrievably stuck at 178 metres at which point the hole was abandoned.
The second hole (TUE-06-06) was collared south of hole No. 05, within 100 metres of the southern boundary. Although plagued by similar ground conditions, this hole was successful in penetrating the unconformity and drilling a further 50 metres of basement to a completion depth of 1,260 metres. Basement fracturing and hematitic alteration were recorded. Uranium values from assayed intervals were in the 0.15-part-to-12-part-per-million range. When viewed in the context of naturally occurring abundances, the intervals sampled appear depleted.
The third hole (TUE-06-07) was collared approximately three kilometres east of the first two holes. This hole was targeting an upthrust basement sliver of pegmatite as reported in historic hole CAR-275. It was abandoned at a depth of 500 metres when projections, based on observed unit thicknesses, to the unconformity translated into depths beyond the drill's capabilities (over 1,500 metres).
Future exploration programs on the Castle North property will focus on the northeasterly claims on the rim of the central uplifted segment of basement rocks within the Carswell meteorite impact crater. Several pronounced electromagnetic conductors parallel the rim of the central uplift and may be represent mineralized pathways. A four-hole (2,500-metre) drill program is planned for this part of the Castle North property.
Castle South project
The past-producing Cluff Lake mine is approximately 30 kilometres north of the Castle South claims. Areva/UEX's Shea Creek project is 10 kilometres north of the Castle South property with both occurring within the SLC. The Shea Creek project hosts the Anne and Collette deposits. The Anne deposit has been the subject of mineral resources evaluation with 40 million pounds averaging 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent U, open to the north and south (news in Stockwatch by UEX of March 18, 2004).
The first phase of exploration on the property was a deep-penetrating airborne geophysical survey. In November, 2005, and April, 2006, Fugro Airborne Surveys flew the Castle South property in two segments with Megatem II, providing deep magnetic and electromagnetic coverage over the entire property.
Interpretation of these geophysical data showed the projection of a north-south-trending basement conductor (the extension of the Saskatoon Lake conductor) is present with approximately six kilometres of conductor axis strike length within the company's claims. This conductor was the focus of Titan's drilling program on its Castle South property. In total, four NQ-sized pilot holes and two wedge cuts were drilled totalling 3,379 metres targeting the axis of this basement conductor. Projected depths to the unconformity were in the 600-to-700-metre vertical range. Hole specifics including collar co-ordinates, direction, inclination, depth to the unconformity and total depth are given in the ensuing table.
Hole No. UTM N UTM E Depth Depth U/C Azimuth Inclination
(metres) (metres) (degrees)
TUE-06-01 6441400 595000 824.8 647.4 N/A -90
TUE-06-02 6442982 595216 812.0 726.2 N/A -90
TUE-06-03 6442238 595088 749.0 692.0 N/A -90
TUE-06-04 6441850 595250 761.0 701.8 N40 degrees E -88
Little uranium mineralization was observed in the drill holes. In hole TUE-06-01, single grains of uraninite were observed in association with the sulphides, pyrite and chalcopyrite. Its presence correlated with elevated scintillometer readings.
The first drill hole (TUE-06-01) was collared approximately one kilometre north of the southern boundary directly atop the projected axis of the bedrock electromagnetic conductor. Depth to the unconformity was 647 metres. Silicification and desilicification were reported in the overlying sandstones. The unconformity was marked by a thin clay-rich zone followed by pronounced hematitic and chloritic alteration. Basement lithologies included graphitic pelites interpreted to be a basement fault surface and the source of the electromagnetic anomaly. The unconformity and adjacent basement rocks generated scintillometer counts that were 10 times background and produced a similar gamma probe anomaly. Samples sent for assay returned values between 0.2 part and 2.9 parts per million uranium.
The second hole (TUE-06-02) was the most northerly drilled on the property. This hole showed similar, but less intense alteration than was observed in the first hole. Scintillometer readings peaked at four times background. Assays ranged from 0.4 part to 15.8 parts per million U. Wedge cut (TUE-06-02A) intersected the same stratigraphic units and alteration as encountered in the pilot.
The third and fourth holes were drilled midway between the first two holes. Comparable rock types and alteration were observed. The unconformity and underlying basement lithologies showed weakly anomalous radioactivity and assayed from 0.3 part to 3.6 parts per million U.
Titan's 2006 drilling program significantly advanced the company's modelling of the Castle South property. Depths to the unconformity showed a gradual increase from south (600 metres) to north (750 metres). Alteration in the form of silicification, desilicification and hematization were present in all drill holes, but most prominent in the south. Fracture zones, interpreted to be late crosscutting faults are also more prevalent in the southern holes. These observed trends have been used as vectoring tools for Titan's next phase of exploration on the Castle South property.
Titan has submitted its application to Saskatchewan Environment for its temporary camp permit and exploration work permit to drill four holes totalling 3,200 metres on mineral disposition S-107947, part of Titan's Castle South property. This second phase of diamond drilling is expected to commence early in 2007.
Sampling and analysis
Drill cores to be sampled were selected based on elevated scintillometer counts. Intervals were marked by the project geologist and mechanically split by a technician under the project geologist's supervision. Core lengths varied from 0.07 metre to one metre in length. Barren wallrock was not routinely sampled as part of this program.
Core recoveries at the unconformity and in the basement lithologies below were generally very good.
Drill cores selected for analysis were sent to the Saskatchewan Research Council's (SRC) Geoanalytical Laboratory in Saskatoon. The SRC included calibrated standards and performed repeat assays sufficient to ensure the quality and integrity of the data reported. The SRC is one of the few analytical facilities approved to handle, process and store radioactive materials. The assaying method used and reported included both partial and total digestion using the ICP/MS-06 protocol.
Technical information provided in this press release has been reviewed by Philip E. Olson, PGeo, a qualified person as prescribed by National Instrument 43-101. |
