UEX Corp. (UEX-V) sets $2-million 2014 budget for three Athabasca projects
Nov 27, 2013 - News Release
UEX Corp. has set a $2-million 2014 exploration budget for its western Athabasca projects, for which UEX will be responsible for $982,000. The budget will be directed solely toward exploration of the Laurie, Mirror River and Erica projects. Effective Dec. 31, 2013, and upon finalization of 2013 exploration expenditures, the projects will be owned approximately 49.1 per cent by UEX and 50.9 per cent by the operator, Areva Resources Canada Inc. Exploration is expected to commence in January, 2014. UEX's forecasted cash position at Dec. 31, 2013, is approximately $8.7-million and it is well-financed to carry out its share of these 2014 exploration programs.Laurie and Mirror River projects
The Laurie and Mirror River project areas lie along the southern margin of the Athabasca basin approximately 35 and 55 kilometres, respectively, east of the recent Fission Uranium Corp./Alpha Minerals Inc. discovery at Patterson Lake South. A $1.4-million budget for 2014 will test several electromagnetic conductors with approximately 4,000 metres of drilling, particularly in areas where cross-cutting structures are postulated to be present or where strong, previously untested conductors are apparent. These conductors have the potential to be associated with unconformity-style uranium mineralization in structural settings which are interpreted to be comparable with those associated with known deposits in the region.
Erica project
The Erica project area lies directly west of UEX's Shea Creek project, which hosts the Kianna, Anne, Colette and 58B deposits. A $600,000 budget for 2014 has been designed to carry out a ground geophysical tensor magnetotelluric program of 50.4 line kilometres. This ground geophysical program is planned over a northwest-southeast conductive trend outlined by a previous 2002 MegaTEM airborne geophysical survey in a setting which is similar to the orientation and intensity of the Saskatoon Lake conductor that is associated with uranium mineralization on the Shea Creek project.
Shea Creek project
Exploration plans for the Shea Creek project in 2014 under the additional earn-in option (see UEX's news release dated April 10, 2013), have not yet been determined and will be dependent upon capital market conditions in the first quarter of 2014.
Further information regarding UEX's projects, including maps, is available on UEX's website.
Nov 27, 2013 - News Release on Shea Creek project
UEX Corp. has released final drilling results from the 2013 exploration program at the Shea Creek project. Shea Creek hosts the Kianna, Anne, Colette and 58B deposits, and is one of eight 49-per-cent-owned Western Athabasca projects joint ventured with AREVA Resources Canada Inc., the project operator.
Two concurrent drilling programs were conducted during 2013. Newly reported drilling results are tabulated the attached tables, and include results from:
- Drilling in the Kianna deposit area, including one drill hole located in the Kianna North area and seven holes located in the Kianna East area. These drill holes were part of a $2.0-million supplemental drilling program for which UEX was responsible for 100 per cent of the costs;
- Property-scale exploration, including five drill holes that tested the Saskatoon Lake East conductor (SLEC) located approximately one kilometre east of the Anne and Kianna deposits; four of these holes intersected the graphitic conductor. In addition, five holes were drilled to test the prospective Saskatoon Lake conductor (SLC) south of the Anne deposit. UEX was responsible for financing $1.27-million of this $2.6-million drilling program.
The results from this program will help guide future exploration targeting as the company continues to gain more knowledge of the extensive Shea Creek mineralizing system.
Drilling results -- Kianna North
One new directional drill hole, SHE-135-17, expanded the eastern extension of basement-hosted mineralization in the Kianna North area. Results from this drill hole include:
SHE-135-17:
- (Unconformity mineralization) 0.33 per cent equivalent triuranium octoxide over 9.4 metres;
- (Basement mineralization) 0.80 per cent eU3O8 over 31.5 metres, including:
- 4.05 per cent eU3O8 over 4.1 metres.
This area remains highly prospective for open northern and eastern extensions of basement mineralization, and for potential new zones where previous drill holes have intersected mineralization outside of the resource area.
Drilling results -- Kianna East
The Kianna East zone is a mineralized body discovered in 2012 that dips shallowly to the southwest and lies to the east of, and below, the main zone of Kianna basement mineralization. Directional drill holes SHE-135-16 and SHE-142-3 expanded the Kianna East zone to the northwest and south, respectively. Mineralization remains open in these directions and to the east.
Highlights from these drill holes include:
SHE-135-16:
- Upper Kianna East zone (B) -- 0.73 per cent eU3O8 over 1.9 metres;
- Kianna East zone (B) -- 0.48 per cent eU3O8 over 3.0 metres.
SHE-142-3:
- Kianna East zone (B) -- 0.99 per cent eU3O8 over 5.3 metres, including:
- 3.21 per cent eU3O8 over 1.5 metres.
Several directional holes (SHE-142-4, SHE-142-4A, SHE-142-4B and SHE-142-4C) which were planned to further test the northwestern extension of the Kianna East mineralized zone were not successfully completed due to strongly fractured and brecciated ground conditions. Although SHE-142-4 did not reach target depth, basement mineralization consisting of disseminated pitchblende associated with dravite veinlets grading 0.243 per cent eU3O8 over 1.2 metres was encountered from 905.9 metres to 907.1 metres, suggesting potential for further mineralization to the northwest of the Kianna East zone.
Drilling results -- Saskatoon Lake East conductor (SLEC)
Five drill holes (SHE-144 and SHE-145 series) were completed to test the SLEC electromagnetic trend which lies approximately one kilometre to the east-northeast of the Saskatoon Lake conductor that is associated with the Kianna and Anne deposits. The SLEC may represent the updip continuation to the east of the graphitic unit which controls the position of the Kianna East zone mineralization. The drill holes confirmed the presence and location of the SLEC, and, although no mineralization was intersected, established a new target area for parallel mineralization to the trend of deposits at Shea Creek. The occurrence of the Kianna East zone along this graphitic unit suggests that hydrothermal activity associated with mineralization was active along this conductor, and future exploration will target prospective structural sites along its length.
Drilling results -- Anne South
The 2013 drilling program in the Anne South area was designed to test targets along the SLC south of Anne, in an area of sparse previous drilling, where previous drill holes intersected anomalous mineralization and favourable clay alteration. The new drill holes encountered favourable graphitic structural zones in the basement and have confirmed that the SLC continues over one kilometre south of the Anne deposit. These graphitic intersections support the company's geophysical interpretation of the 33-kilometre-long SLC. Minor mineralization was intersected in some of these holes as shown in the associated table.
A second graphitic unit was intersected in drill hole SHE-143-1 below the SLC, as was also encountered below the Kianna East zone 1.3 kilometres to the north. This graphitic intersection is interpreted to be the downdip continuation of the SLEC in this area, suggesting a significant strike length and dip extent to the SLEC.
Further information regarding UEX's projects, including maps, is available on UEX's website.
Qualified persons and data acquisition
Technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by R. Sierd Eriks, PGeo, UEX's vice-president of exploration; David Rhys, PGeo, UEX advisory board member; and Erwin Koning, PGeo, AREVA's technical adviser, exploration, who are each qualified persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Equivalent uranium grades (eU3O8) reported here were obtained using a DHT27-STD gamma probe which collects continuous readings along the length of the drill hole. Probe results are calibrated using an algorithm calculated from the comparison of probe results with geochemical analyses in previous drill holes in the Shea Creek area. True widths of mineralized intervals have not yet been determined. All intervals are also analyzed geochemically at the SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories in Saskatoon, Sask., to support the probe data.
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Qualified persons and data acquisition
Technical information in this news release have been reviewed and approved by R. Sierd Eriks, PGeo, UEX's vice-president of exploration, David Rhys, PGeo, UEX advisory board member and Erwin Koning, PGeo, Areva's technical adviser, exploration, who are each qualified persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101. |
