UEX Corporation (UEX:TSX) (“UEX” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the results of the summer drilling program at the Christie Lake Project.
The summer program’s main goal was to expand the high-grade Ōrora Deposit, discovered during the winter 2017 exploration campaign. Highlights from the winter discovery program included hole CB-109, which intersected 22.81% U3O8 over 8.6 m from 475.1 to 483.7 m, and hole CB-116A, which returned 20.00% U3O8 over 8.5 m from 471.0 to 479.5 m. True widths are estimated to be between 80-85% of core length.
Our team completed ten holes during the summer program totaling 4,541 m. Eight of these holes tested the area along strike to the southwest of the Ōrora Zone, one hole tested the deposit’s down-dip extent, and one hole tested along strike to the northeast.
Hole CB-122 intersected 2.37% eU3O8 over 2.2 m from 476.40 to 478.60 m at the southwest end of the Ōrora Deposit, suggesting that the deposit may still be open along strike to the southwest of hole CB-121, where the trend of the graphitic package appears to deviate away from and to the southeast of the Ōrora fault structure.
Seven of the ten holes encountered uranium mineralization, extending the Ōrora Zone to a strike length of 150 m (see Figure 1). The Ōrora Deposit is located within the 1.5 km long Yalowega Trend, host of the Paul Bay and Ken Pen Deposits. UEX will continue to explore along this anomalous uranium-bearing trend.
Radiometric Equivalent Grade (“REG”) results of the seven holes that extended the Ōrora Deposit to the southwest during the summer program are shown in the table below. Assay results for all seven of these holes are currently being analyzed at the Saskatchewan Research Council’s Geoanalytical Laboratory in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Table 1 – REG Results – Summer 2017 Christie Lake Exploration Program
For the locations of the existing mineralized intersections at the Ōrora Deposit, please refer to Figure 1.
Now that the summer program has been completed, UEX will be focusing its efforts on completing three-dimensional models of the Paul Bay, Ken Pen, and Ōrora Deposits in preparation for our maiden NI-43-101 resource. The three-dimensional modeling of Ōrora will also assist the UEX geologists in identifying possible deposit extensions for testing during the upcoming winter program.
About Radiometric Equivalent Grades
The eU3O8 grades were estimated in-situ within the drill holes using calibrated down-hole radiometric gamma probes. Samples from all holes have been collected for assay analysis to confirm these equivalent grades. The samples will be analyzed at the Geoanalytical Laboratory at the Saskatchewan Research Council in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with results expected in the coming weeks. The details on how eU 3O8 was calculated from the probe grades were outlined in our press release of May 24, 2016.
About the Christie Lake Project
UEX currently holds a 30% interest in the Christie Lake Project and is working under an option agreement to earn up to a 70% interest. The Project is located approximately 9 km northeast and along strike of Cameco’s McArthur River Mine, the world’s largest uranium producer. The P2 Fault, the controlling structure for all of the McArthur River deposits, continues to the northeast beyond the mine. UEX believes that through a series of en-echelon steps the northeast strike extension of the P2 Fault not only crosses the Project but also controls the three known uranium deposits on Christie Lake, the Ōrora, Paul Bay and Ken Pen Deposits.
The Paul Bay and Ken Pen Deposits are estimated to host a combined 20.87 million pounds of U3O8 at an average grade of 3.22% U 3O8 and were discovered in 1989 and 1993 respectively. This is a historic resource estimation which does not use resource classifications consistent with NI 43-101. The historical resource estimate was presented in an internal report titled Christie Lake Project, Geological Resource Estimate completed by PNC Tono Geoscience Center, Resource Analysis Group, dated September 12, 1997. The historical resource was calculated using a 3 D block model using block sizes of 2 m by 2 m by 2 m, and block grades interpolated using the inverse distance squared method over a circular search radius of 25 m and 1 m height. Specific gravities for each deposit were averaged from specific gravity measures of individual samples collected for assay. UEX plans to complete additional infill drilling on the deposits during the option earn-in period to upgrade these historic resources to indicated and inferred. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historic estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. UEX is not treating the historic estimate as current mineral reserves or mineral resources and the reader is advised not to rely upon this historical estimate as a resource estimate.
Qualified Persons and Data Acquisition
Technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Roger Lemaitre, P.Eng., P.Geo., UEX’s President and CEO and Trevor Perkins, P.Geo., UEX’s Exploration Manager, who are each considered to be a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About UEX
UEX (TSX:UEX, OTC:UEXCF.PK, UXO.F) is a Canadian uranium exploration and development company involved in fourteen uranium projects, including three that are 100% owned and operated by UEX, one joint venture with AREVA Resources Canada Inc. (“AREVA”) that is 90.1% owned by UEX and is under option to and operated by ALX Uranium, as well as eight joint ventures with AREVA, one joint venture with AREVA and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited, which are operated by AREVA, and one project (Christie Lake) under option from JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited and operated by UEX. The fourteen projects are located in the eastern, western and northern perimeters of the Athabasca Basin, the world’s richest uranium belt, which in 2015 accounted for approximately 22% of the global primary uranium production. UEX is currently advancing several uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin which include the Christie Lake deposits, the Kianna, Anne, Colette and 58B deposits at its currently 49.1%-owned Shea Creek Project (located 50 km north of Fission’s Triple R Deposit and Patterson Lake South Project, and NexGen’s Arrow Deposit) the Horseshoe and Raven deposits located on its 100%-owned Horseshoe-Raven Development Project and the West Bear Deposit located at its 100%-owned Hidden Bay Project.
About JCU
JCU is a private company that is actively engaged in the exploration and development in Canada. JCU is owned by three Japanese companies. Amongst these, Overseas Uranium Resources Development Co., Ltd. (“OURD”) acts as the manager of JCU. JCU has partnerships with UEX, AREVA, Cameco, Denison and others on uranium exploration and development projects in the Athabasca Basin of Northern Saskatchewan including Millennium and Wheeler River and the Kiggavik project in the Thelon Basin in Nunavut.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Roger Lemaitre
President & CEO
(306) 713-1401Figure 1
Source: UEX Corporation