UEX/AREVA to Commence Shea Creek Drilling Program with Three Drills, and Development Work on Proposed Shaft Proceeding on Schedule
Tue Sep 4, 9:13 AM
ca.news.finance.yahoo.com
Trading Symbol: UEX-TSX
VANCOUVER, Sept. 4 /CNW/ - UEX Corporation ("UEX") announced today that AREVA Group subsidiary AREVA Resources Canada Inc. ("AREVA") will commence the fall 2007 drilling program at the Shea Creek Uranium Project ("Shea Creek") on September 10, 2007 utilizing three directional drills. Shea Creek is located in the western Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan, Canada.
Shea Creek hosts the Kianna, Anne, and Colette Uranium Deposits and is one of the ten Western Athabasca Projects totaling 181,509 hectares (448,327 acres) currently under option from AREVA, the operator. UEX has earned a 40% interest in the ten projects by spending in excess of $24.5 million on exploration and development expenditures in just over three years. UEX has an option to earn an additional 9% interest, and anticipates that it will earn its full 49% interest during the first quarter of 2008.
Fall 2007 Drilling Program at Shea Creek
One drill will be utilized to expand the Anne Deposit; currently the Anne Deposit is open in all directions. Pilot hole SHE-122 (see Map 1) will be utilized to test the unconformity and basement extensions of mineralization in the northern portion of the Anne Deposit. With the discovery of high-grade basement mineralization in the Kianna Deposit, a greater focus will be placed on the basement mineralization at Anne Deposit.
Another two drills will be used to explore the area between the Kianna and Anne Deposits, where historical drilling intersected mineralization in 9 out of 13 drill holes. The two deposits are about 600 metres apart. Drilling will utilize pilot holes SHE-121 and SHE-123 (see Map 1) to target inferred structures that offset a favourable geological trend between the Anne and Kianna Deposits. Structural offsets are considered important for uranium deposition and are recognized in all three deposits at Shea Creek.
Development Work for Proposed Exploration Shaft at Shea Creek
As first announced (see UEX News Release, April 10, 2007) AREVA has started the necessary studies for site characterization and base line testing for an exploration shaft. The proposed shaft has been strategically located between the Kianna and Anne Deposits to provide underground access to both deposits as well as the highly-prospective corridor between them (see UEX's website at www.uex-corporation.com for a map depicting the shaft location). The proposed shaft will have a vertical depth of approximately 950 metres and an estimated capital cost of $100 million (CDN).
This development work is required to file a Project Description for federal and provincial regulatory bodies. Three drill rigs recently completed five piezometer holes each to a depth of 800 metres in the vicinity of the planned shaft location (see Map 2). The piezometer installation and pumping tests are near completion; groundwater monitoring and sampling will continue into the fall.
Packer tests for hydrological studies were performed by Golder Associates during the summer. The importance of these tests is to estimate groundwater inflows in underground openings. A final report is expected later this year.
An environmental baseline study has been started in the form of surface hydrology with monitoring stations and lake level gauges installed during the summer. Aquatic and terrestrial ecology began in July. The aquatic studies will begin in September followed by terrestrial studies later in the fall. These studies will be ongoing into next year.
It is expected that the Project Description will be submitted to both federal and provincial regulatory bodies in the fourth quarter of this year.
About the Kianna Deposit
At the Kianna Deposit, high-grade uranium mineralization has been intersected in multiple zones at depths from 662 metres to 922 metres, a vertical distance of approximately 260 metres - located in sandstone high above the unconformity, at the unconformity, and below the unconformity in basement rocks, with unconformity depths ranging from approximately 710 to 760 metres.
To date, the AREVA-UEX drilling programs from 2004 through to 2007 have
outlined three distinct styles of high-grade uranium mineralization that are
still open in all directions:
- Perched, sandstone-hosted mineralization found in discrete zones tens
of metres above the unconformity currently has a defined strike
length of 80 metres and a width of 60 metres (previously announced
2005 hole SHE-114-5, 27.4% U(3)O(8) over 8.8 metres, including 58.3%
U(3)O(8) over 3.5 metres);
- Unconformity-type mineralization, in close proximity to the
unconformity has a defined strike length of 200 metres and a width of
200 metres (previously announced 2006 hole SHE-115-3, grading 12.57%
U(3)O(8) over 11.9 metres, including 27.35% U(3)O(8) over
4.2 metres);
- Basement-hosted mineralization, found in zones up to 200 metres below
the unconformity has outlined a strike length of 200 metres and a
down-dip extension of 160 metres (previously announced 2005 hole
SHE-114-11, grading 5.40% U(3)O(8) over 37.7 metres, including 25.46%
U(3)O(8) over 4.0 metres).
A 2007 winter/spring drilling program at the Kianna Deposit produced sixteen directional cuts from two pilot holes - SHE-115 and SHE-118 (see UEX News Release, July 5, 2007). Multiple directional cuts, or "step-outs", can be made from one pilot hole, which reduces costs while improving targeting precision when drilling deep targets. The 2007 winter/spring drilling program expanded the dimensions of the unconformity and basement portions of the deposit. The program outlined a continuous zone of mineralization at the unconformity that is currently 200 metres in length and will be the foundation to continue the expansion of the deposit. In addition, the drilling expanded the high grade basement mineralization associated with an east-west structural corridor within the Kianna Deposit by an additional 100 metres in strike length to a current known length of 200 metres which is still open.
About the Anne Deposit
The Anne Deposit is geologically comparable to the Kianna Deposit with both unconformity and basement mineralization. To date, the mineralization at the Anne Deposit has been traced by systematic drilling over a strike length of 250 metres and a width of 100 metres and remains open in all directions. With the recent focus on the Kianna Deposit, no work has been carried out on the Anne Deposit since 2004.
Previous drilling programs have outlined two distinct styles of high grade
mineralization:
- Unconformity-type mineralization, in close proximity to the
unconformity (previous hole SHE-99-2, grading 9.17% U(3)O(8) over
15.7 metres, including 36.37% U(3)O(8) over 2.5 metres);
- Basement-hosted mineralization, found in zones up to 35 metres below
the unconformity (previous hole SHE-96-3, grading 1.39% U(3)O(8) over
47.3 metres).
To view maps of the Kianna and Anne Deposits at Shea Creek, please visit UEX's website at www.uex-corporation.com under "Western Athabasca Basin - Shea Creek".
Uranium grades are calculated from gamma probe logging. True widths of mineralized intervals have not yet been determined. The technical information in this news release has been compiled and reviewed by Erwin Koning, P. Geo., AREVA's District Geologist, West Athabasca Region, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About AREVA Resources Canada Inc.
AREVA, a uranium exploration and mining company, is a subsidiary of AREVA Group, a worldwide expert in the energy field with a strong industrial presence in over 40 countries. AREVA Group, through its Canadian subsidiary, has significant interests in several uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin, including the producing McClean Lake Deposits operated by AREVA, the producing McArthur River Deposit operated by Cameco Corporation, the Millenium Deposit, and the Cigar Lake Deposit.
About UEX
UEX is a Canadian uranium exploration and development company actively involved in 19 uranium projects, including seven that are 100% owned and operated by UEX, one joint venture with AREVA Resources Canada Inc. ("AREVA") that is operated by UEX, ten under option from AREVA and one under option from Japan-Canada Uranium Company, Limited, which are operated by AREVA. The 19 projects, totaling 386,650 hectares (955,400 acres), are located in the eastern, western and northern perimeters of the Athabasca Basin, the world's richest uranium belt, which accounts for approximately 26% of the global primary uranium production. UEX is currently developing several uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin which include the Anne and Kianna Deposits at its Shea Creek Uranium Project, a joint venture with AREVA in the western Athabasca Basin, and the West Bear, Raven and Horseshoe deposits located at its 100% owned Hidden Bay Project in the eastern Athabasca Basin. UEX's exploration and development budgets for 2007 total $28.0 million, and the Company has a cash position of approximately $62.0 million.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF UEX CORPORATION
Stephen H. Sorensen,
President & C.E.O.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" that are based on UEX's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding UEX's outlook for our future operations, plans and timing for the commencement or advancement of exploration activities on our properties, and other expectations, intention and plans that are not historical fact. The words "estimates", "projects", "expects", "intends", "believes", "plans", or their negatives or other comparable words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Many of these factors are beyond the control of UEX. Consequently, all forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by this cautionary statement and there can be no assurance that actual results or developments anticipated by UEX will be realized. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. UEX disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts
UEX CORPORATION
SUITE 1007 - 808 NELSON STREET
VANCOUVER
B.C.
CANADA
V6Z 2H2
PH: (604) 669-2349
FAX (604) 669-1240
Website: www.uex-corporation.com
e-mail: uex@intergate.ca |
