U3O8 Corp. plans a 6,000 metre drill program to test
the potential size
of the Kurupung uranium district in Guyana
Toronto, Ontario
August 5, 2009 U3O8 Corp.
(TSX Venture: UWE), a Canadian uranium exploration company, announces plans to begin a 6,000 metre diamond drilling program in the
Kurupung Batholith in Guyana, scheduled for August to December,
2009. Uranium in the Kurupung has the geological characteristics of
a family of sizeable deposits known as albitite-hosted uranium, many of which
contain resources in the 50 to 130 million pound range. The objective of
U3O8 Corp’s scout drilling program is to test a large number of new
basement-hosted targets for mineralization to determine the potential size of
the Kurupung system, a promising uranium district in South
America.
U3O8 Corp. has demonstrated good continuity of uranium
at reasonable grade in four areas of the Kurupung Batholith, and completed an
initial 43-101 resource estimate on two of these basement-hosted targets.
Our exploration focus now is to establish the extent of this uranium district
and determine whether the Kurupung has similar size potential to many of the
world’s major albitite-hosted deposits, said Dr. Richard Spencer, U3O8
Corp’s President and CEO. To this end, we are commencing a scout drilling
program in which three to five bore holes are drilled in each of a large number
of new targets to identify additional structures that contain uranium. The number
of uranium-bearing structures identified in this scout drilling phase should
provide a means of estimating the overall size potential of the Kurupung system
in the short term.
This plan aims to enhance the value of the Kurupung
discovery while making efficient use of cash and ensuring that U3O8 Corp.
remains capitalized into next year. A total budget of approximately $3
million for the second half of 2009 has been allocated primarily for the
Kurupung drilling program while including funding for ongoing exploration for
unconformity-related uranium in the Roraima
Basin and overhead
costs. As a result, U3O8 Corp. is expected to have about $4 million in
cash at the end of 2009.
Albitite-Hosted Uranium Deposits
Uranium in the Kurupung Batholith shares many of the
geological characteristics of a class of deposits termed albitite-hosted
uranium. Common features of these systems include:
Size These
deposits typically contain resources of 50 to130 million pounds (Figure
1). The world’s major albitite-hosted systems* include the 103
million pound Michelin deposit (Canada), the 80 million pound
Valhalla-Skal deposit (Australia) and the 119 million pound Coles Hill deposit
(USA) as well as mines currently in production including the 220 million pound Lagoa
Real (Brazil) and Ukraine’s 70 million pound Michurinskoye and 66 million
pound Vatutinskoye deposits;
Grade They have
an average grade of about 0.10% U3O8 (Figure 1);
Depth Uranium
mineralization typically extends to considerable depths the Michelin, Michurinskoye and
Vatutinskoye deposits have been drilled to a depth of over 700 metres,
while Lagoa Real and Valhalla extend to at least 400 metres below
surface; and
Fault-Controlled Systems Uranium is located in a network of faults
in which mineralization in a number of structures contributes to the overall
resource.
In comparison, uranium in the Kurupung Batholith has
the following characteristics:
Size A modest
Indicated Resource of 5.8 million pounds (at a grade of 0.10% U3O8
or 1.97 pounds U3O8 per short ton) plus an Inferred
Resource of 1.3 million pounds (at a grade of 0.09% U3O8
or 1.88 pounds U3O8 per short ton) has been estimated on
the first two mineralized structures ? Aricheng South and Aricheng North.
This initial resource has clear potential for significant growth since uranium
mineralization in both structures remains open at depth. In addition, the
third and fourth mineralized structures (Aricheng West and Accori North C) have
been largely drilled out and are approaching resource estimation. A fifth
mineralized structure (Accori South) is awaiting infill drilling. The aim
of the planned scout drilling program is to identify additional uranium-bearing
structures that can add to the pipeline of targets ready for infill drilling
and subsequent resource estimation, and illustrate the potential size of the
Kurupung system;
Grade An average
grade of 0.10% U3O8, which is typical of albitite-hosted
deposits worldwide (Figure 1);
Depth Uranium
in the Kurupung extends from about 10 metres below surface to at least 220
metres, the maximum vertical depth to which U3O8 Corp. has drilled to
date. Mineralization is still open at depth; and
Fault-Controlled System Uranium in the Kurupung Batholith is
located in a coherent network of faults and shear zones similar to structural
systems that contain the world’s large albitite-hosted deposits.
Targeting Techniques
U3O8 Corp. has significantly advanced its targeting
techniques in the Kurupung district beyond the methods originally used by
Cogema in the early 1980’s. With the integration of three
geophysical methods covering the entire district, compelling new and untested
targets have been identified for scout drilling in the forthcoming drill
campaign. The principal geophysical targeting tools are magnetics and
VLF-EM (Very Low Frequency Electromagnetics), while radiometrics, which is
easily masked by soil, humus, vegetation and water, is used as a secondary
tool.
Magnetic Data Delineate Demagnetized
Faults (Figure 2A) The Kurupung
Batholith consists of homogeneous granitic rock that should have a relatively
uniform magnetic signature. Instead, airborne magnetic data show the
batholith consists of uniformly magnetic areas that are separated by corridors
of low magnetism. All of the consistently uranium-bearing structures
drilled by U3O8 Corp. to date lie within these weakly magnetic corridors.
Measurements on drill core from these areas show that the magnetism of the
granite decreases sharply in the faults that contain the uranium.
Therefore, U3O8 Corp. is using the magnetic data to trace out where
demagnetized faults are located in the batholith as corridors of potential
uranium mineralization for scout drilling. The selection of targets takes into
account that only parts of the demagnetized faults may contain uranium.
Conductive Zones in VLF-EM
(Figure 2B) ? VLF-EM surveys carried out in the
field over areas that have been drilled by U3O8 Corp. show that uranium-bearing
shoots are located where slightly conductive zones intersect, or coincide with,
demagnetized fault zones evident in the magnetic data. Therefore, U3O8
Corp. is using the VLF-EM data to identify points where conductive zones cut
the magnetite-deficient faults as new targets for scout drilling.
It is uncertain if further exploration will result in
the identification of significant uranium mineralization within new target
areas.
Unconformity-Related Uranium
Exploration
In addition to the work on basement-hosted uranium in
the Kurupung area, U3O8 Corp’s exploration for unconformity-related
uranium in the Roraima
Basin continues to advance
on two fronts:
Analysis of Archived Core U3O8 Corp. continues with the analysis of
some 10,000 metres of core previously drilled through the Roraima in exploration
for gold in the mid-1990’s. Identification of specific clay
minerals as a means of defining alteration zoning, similar to pathfinder
alteration related to uranium deposits in the Athabasca
Basin, is key to confirming
the viability of uranium targets in the Roraima. U3O8 Corp.
continues to detect these corresponding alteration minerals in the Roraima as
first reported in the press release of June 4, 2009.
In addition, a
portable analyzer (hand-held X-ray fluorescent device) will be used on the core
to provide a first-pass analysis for pathfinder elements typically associated
with unconformity-related deposits in the Athabasca
Basin. The
objective is to identify key metal zoning as an important exploration tool for
unconformity-related uranium. Any metal zoning identified will be
integrated with alteration zoning as a means of vectoring towards the most
prospective parts of broad target areas that will be ranked for potential
drilling in due course; and
Field Work Ground
follow-up of radiometric anomalies identified in U3O8 Corp’s 2008
airborne geophysics program continues by applying the analogy with the uranium-rich
Athabasca and Thelon Basins
in Canada,
where many uranium deposits occur within extensive areas of alteration centred
on regional faults. Priority is being given to radiometric anomalies that
correspond with areas where old, basement faults are intersected by younger,
crosscutting faults in the Roraima
Basin. Exploration
efforts are focused on mapping the extensive clay alteration visible in the
field and on rock-chip geochemistry along these fault zones to define potential
drill targets.
Ongoing exploration results from the Roraima
Basin will be reported in
due course.
Mr. Richard Cleath (M.Sc.), Vice President of U3O8
Corp., a Qualified Person within the definition of that term in National
Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators, had overall
responsibility for all aspects of target selection and evaluation. Mr. Cleath
has supervised the preparation of, and verified, the technical information in
this release.
Figure 1 World’s Major Albitite-Hosted
Uranium Deposits
Deposit
|
Country
|
Resource
U3O8
mlbs
|
Grade
%
U3O8
|
Status
|
Kurupung
|
Guyana
|
7
|
0.10
|
Resource
expansion
|
Lagoa
Real
|
Brazil
|
220
|
0.25
|
Production
|
Michelin
|
Canada
|
103
|
0.12
|
Future
development
|
Michurinskoye
|
Ukraine
|
70
|
0.10
|
Production
|
Valhalla-Skal
|
Australia
|
80
|
0.09
|
Future
development
|
Severinskoye
|
Ukraine
|
130
|
0.10
|
Future
development
|
Vatutinskoye
|
Ukraine
|
66
|
0.10
|
Production
|
Figure 1 shows a comparison of
the world’s abitite-hosted uranium deposits in terms of uranium grade and
aggregate total resource. The diagram highlights a cluster of deposits in
the 50 to 130 million pound range with an average grade of 0.10% U3O8.
The geological features of the uranium-bearing zones in the Kurupung Batholith
are analogous with albitite-hosted deposits. The next step is to demonstrate that U3O8 Corp’s initial resource
can be expanded significantly in light of the potential size of albitite-hosted
deposits elsewhere in the world.
Figure 2 Geophysical Surveys
Indicate Common Cross-Cutting Features for New Target Generation
Figures 2A and 2B show views of a
small area of the airborne magnetic and ground VLF-EM (Very Low
Frequency-Electromagnetic) surveys undertaken by U3O8 Corp. in the Aricheng
area of the Kurupung Batholith. The irregular white areas outlined in black
show the footprint of uranium mineralization drilled by U3O8 Corp. at Aricheng
West and Aricheng South. In Figure 2A, warm colours represent magnetic
rocks while cool colours represent rocks with little magnetism. In Figure
2B, warm colours represent slightly conductive zones while cool colours are
less conductive.
All the uranium found by U3O8
Corp. to date lies within demagnetized faults (Figure 2A ? coloured in blue in
the magnetic data and marked by white-dashed lines). This data suggests
that potential mineralization could be located along these demagnetized
structures.
An empirical observation from the
drilled areas is that uranium-bearing shoots are located where conductive zones
(red and pink in Figure 2B) identified in VLF-EM data coincide with, or
intersect, ribbons of low magnetism (blue areas in Figure 2A highlighted by
white-dashed line), which are interpreted as demagnetized faults. Targets
for scout drilling were selected (shown in black circles on Figure 2B) where
conductive zones cut demagnetized faults.