TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb 2, 2016) - Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (the "Company" or "Purepoint") (TSX VENTURE:PTU) today reported that it has expanded the mineralized area at the Spitfire Zone during the initial follow-up holes of this year's program with hole HK16-37 returning downhole probe results of 9.2% eU3O8 over 0.6 metres within 0.67% eU3O8 over 10.1 metres. Purepoint is the operator of the Hook Lake project on behalf of its Joint Venture partners Cameco Corp. and AREVA Resources Canada Inc.
"This continuation of high-grade mineralization represents a significant step out from last year's discovery," said Chris Frostad, Purepoint's CEO. "As we gain a more detailed appreciation of the structural setting at Spitfire, we are confident that this year's drill program will demonstrate further potential for significant deposits in the Patterson Lake District."
The recent HK16-37 high-grade uranium intercept is situated only 255 metres below surface and represents a 130 metre up-dip step-out from last year's significant uranium hit by drill hole HK15-27. Follow-up drilling is being aided by acoustic Televiewer data that is being used to visualize, orientate and measure true strike and dip of borehole structural features in situ. The Televiewer data is being collected and processed by DGI Geoscience of Toronto, Ontario. Purepoint gratefully acknowledges AREVA for providing structural interpretation and quality control of the Spitfire Televiewer data.
"The recent Spitfire drill hole results in combination with acoustic Televiewer interpretations has refined the orientation of the structures that host uranium mineralization," said Scott Frostad, V.P. Exploration at Purepoint. "It is now considered that the mineralization has a more vertical structural control, in a fashion similar to the Arrow and Triple R deposits adjacent to the south."
Highlights:
- An initial hole of the 2016 drill season within the Spitfire Zone, HK16-37, has returned downhole probe results of 9.2% eU3O8 over 0.6 metres within 0.67% eU3O8 over 10.1 metres;
- The HK16-37 high-grade intercept is located 130 metres up-dip from last year's high-grade uranium intercept by hole HK15-27 and is only 255 metres from surface;
- Acoustic Televiewer data is being collected for visualizing, orientating and measuring true strike and dip of borehole structural features in situ;
- The mineralized structure has yet to be tested where it meets the unconformity and may also be associated with unconformity-related uranium deposition;
- Commencing just two weeks ago, this winter's drill program will deliver a minimum of 6,000 metres of drilling across 14 holes;
- Drilling will continue to focus on high priority targets along the Patterson Lake Corridor, the same conductive trend that hosts Fission Uranium Corp's Triple R and NexGen's Arrow high grade deposits.
It is emphasized that the downhole calibrated gamma probe results (eU308) are preliminary and subject to confirmation by geochemical assay. Further downhole probe results and follow-up geochemical assays will be released as they become available.
Initial 2016 Spitfire Holes
Drill hole HK16-34 was collared 100 metres west of HK15-27 (2.23% U3O8over 2.8 metres that included 12.90% U3O8 over 0.4 metres) with an azimuth of 307 degrees and a dip of -80 degrees. Overburden was cased to a depth of 99 metres, and then moderately bleached, locally desilicified and highly fractured Athabasca sandstone was drilled to the unconformity at 149 metres. Hematite, chlorite and lesser clay associated with paleo-weathering was encountered to a depth of 164 metres. Moderately to strongly chloritized quartz-rich metasediments are present until 183 metres where moderate to strong clay alteration of lithologically similar rocks appears. Moderate clay alteration persists until 450 metres where fresh granitic gneiss is encountered. Illite alteration overprinting earlier clay and chlorite occurs within and adjacent to complex fracture networks associated with minor fault zones from 194 to 203 metres, 224 to 227 metres, 422 to 423 metres. An intensely brick-red hematite altered zone with hairline fracturing and anomalous radioactivity returned an average of 951 counts per second (cps) over 7.3 metres between 262.3 to 269.6 metres from the downhole gamma probe. The targeted graphitic shear zone was encountered from 358 to 362 metres. The hole was completed within granitic gneiss at a depth of 483 metres.
Drill hole HK16-37 was collared 40 metres in front of HK16-34 with a similar azimuth of 307 degrees and a dip of -80 degrees. Overburden was cased to a depth of 99 metres and the unconformity was encountered at a depth of 166 metres. Strong clay alteration of metasedimentary rocks ranging from pelitic to quartzite, present locally as massive clay, occurs from 166 to 400 metres, after which the clay alteration progressively weakens until the end of hole. Strongly chloritzed mafic intrusions occuring from 211 to 213 metres and 239 to 249 metres, are locally overprinted by brick-red hematite alteration, and both the chlorite and hematite are overprinted by clay alteration. A brittle fault zone was encountered from 261 to 263 metres. Uranium mineralization was intersected within tectonized metasediments from 263.3 to 279.4 metres returning 0.65% eU3O8over 10.1 metres and included an interval of semi-massive pitchblende from 269.6 to 270.2 metres returning 9.6% eU3O8 over 0.6 metres. Below the uranium mineralization, brittle-ductile sheared to pseudo-cataclastic metasediments with strong clay alteration occur from 279 to 295 metres followed by the targeted graphitic shear zone encountered from 295 to 304 metres. The hole was completed within moderately clay altered metasediments at a depth of 435 metres.
Gamma Logging and Geochemical Assaying
Gamma logging is a common method used to estimate uranium grade where the radiation contribution from thorium and potassium is small. Gamma logging does not account for energy derived from thorium and potassium. Reported uranium mineralization grades are annotated with a sub-prefix 'e' because they are uranium equivalent grades derived from downhole gamma ray logging results and should only be regarded as an approximation.
Three instruments are being utilized during the Hook Lake JV drill program to measure gamma radiation. An Exploranium GR-110G scintillometer is the handheld instrument used for defining core samples to be submitted for assay. Our Mount Sopris 2PGA-1000 downhole total gamma probe has provided consistent results for reporting low-grade mineralization as a %eU3O8and a recently purchased Mount Sopris 2GHF-1000 downhole triple-gamma probe has been used for estimating the high-grade mineralization. The gamma probes were initially calibrated at the Grand Junction, Colorado test pits and are regularly recalibrated against a set of known standards in test pits located at the Saskatchewan Research Council's facilities in Saskatoon.
Reported equivalent uranium grades (%eU308) are downhole calibrated gamma probe results composited by length using a cut-off of 0.05% eU3O8 and maximum internal dilution of 2.0 metres. All drill intercepts are core width and true thickness is yet to be determined.
Core samples are submitted to the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) Geoanalytical Laboratories in Saskatoon. The SRC facility is ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (scope of accreditation #537). The samples are analyzed using partial and total digestion inductively coupled plasma methods, for boron by Na2O2 fusion, and for uranium by fluorimetry.
Hook Lake JV Project
The Hook Lake JV project is owned jointly by Cameco Corp. (39.5%), AREVA Resources Canada Inc. (39.5%) and Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (21%) and consists of nine claims totaling 28,683 hectares situated in the southwestern Athabasca Basin. The Hook Lake JV is considered one of the highest quality uranium exploration projects in the Athabasca Basin due to its location along the prospective Patterson Lake trend and the relatively shallow depth to the unconformity.
Current exploration is targeting the Patterson Lake Corridor that hosts Fission's Triple R deposit (indicated mineral resource 79,610,000 lbs U3O8 at an average grade of 1.58% U3O8), NexGen Energy's Arrow Deposit where hole AR-15-62 returned 78.0 metres at 10.00% U3O8(NexGen press release of January 13, 2016) and the Spitfire Discovery by the Hook Lake JV.
About Purepoint
Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. is focused on the precision exploration of its seven projects in the Canadian Athabasca Basin. Purepoint proudly maintains project ventures in the Basin with two of the largest uranium producers in the world, Cameco Corporation and AREVA Resources Canada Inc. Established in the Athabasca Basin well before the initial resurgence in uranium earlier last decade. Purepoint is actively advancing a large portfolio of multiple drill targets in the world's richest uranium region.
Scott Frostad BSc, MASc, PGeo, Purepoint's Vice President, Exploration, is the Qualified Person responsible for technical content of this release. Mr. Frostad has supervised the preparation of and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release.
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