92 Energy identifies new priority uranium targets in Canada
A review of historical data has defined unconformity-type uranium targets at 92 Energy’s newly pegged Powerline and Cypress projects.
Uranium explorer 92 Energy (ASX: 92E) has identified new priority unconformity-type uranium targets following a detailed review of historical data at its Powerline and Cypress projects in Canada.
The company just pegged the two projects in May, expanding its landholding in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin by 23,000 hectares.
The priority target areas were defined by the compilation of a comprehensive geographic information system (GIS) database which includes 268 radioactive bedrock occurrences, conductors, lake sediment sampling, versatile time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) surveys and limited historical drilling.
In addition, 136 rock chip samples had returned uranium content between 5 parts per million and 7.31% uranium oxide.
The areas have not been explored using modern techniques including drill testing.
“The company’s data review has confirmed the prospectivity of the Powerline and Cypress project areas, particularly in view of the widespread occurrence of thin uraninite veins and has elevated multiple areas to priority targets,” 92 Energy chief executive officer Siobhan Lancaster announced.
“The company now benefits from this recently compiled GIS database to advance our priority targets to high priority targets, prior to drill testing thereafter,” she said.
92 Energy said geophysical data reprocessing is expected to convert the areas to high priority targets during the September quarter.
Project history
The Powerline project is underlain by a range of metamorphic rocks such as graphitic gneiss, mylonite and schist that are potential host rocks for an unconformity-type uranium deposit of the basement-hosted sub-type.
The area was explored by several companies between 1950 and 1980 through prospecting, trenching, airborne and ground geophysics and geochemical surveys.
There was no further recorded uranium exploration until 2005, when the project was partially covered by several airborne VTEM and high resolution radiometric and magnetic surveys.
The underlying geology at Cypress is dominated by altered and locally graphitic, granitic gneisses. No outcropping Athabasca formation rocks are preserved in this project area, but the unconformity is believed to occur in the southern part of the claim beneath Lake Athabasca.
The Cypress target is a basement-hosted unconformity-type uranium deposit.
Uranium exploration at the Cypress project began in the 1950s including the discovery of 28 radioactive occurrences along the shore of Lake Athabasca within 92 Energy’s claim. Most of the occurrences are aligned along a 3km northeast-southwest trending corridor named Uranium Ridge, where 21 drillholes were completed in 1954, the results of which are unknown.
A further 13 holes were drilled in 1969 at the L2 area, intersecting 0.3m at 0.134% uranium oxide and 0.3m at 0.015% uranium oxide.
92 Energy noted in both projects that many of the radioactive occurrences are related to the presence of thin uraninite veinlets in hematitic and mylonitic gneisses. It said while these veinlets are “uneconomic”, they signify the presence of a widespread mineralising system that warrants further exploration.