Pitchstone?s Uranium Exploration Plans for 2012
? Namibia
Licence Renewals Completed
? Analyses
Received for Namibia
Drilling
? Dome
Airborne Geophysical Survey Contract Signed
? Athabasca
Exploration Underway
Pitchstone Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V: PXP; ?Pitchstone? or the ?Company?) reports the renewal
of licences in Namibia, and the receipt of analyses for the recently completed
reverse circulation drilling program on the Dome property in Namibia.
Exploration on the Dome property is carried out as a Joint Venture with Rio
Tinto Mining and Exploration Ltd. (Rio Tinto) and Manica Minerals Ltd. A
summary of 2011 exploration activities and plans for 2012 is also provided.
Summary of 2011 Activities
Despite a challenging market environment for uranium
exploration companies, a total of six drilling campaigns were completed during
the year; two on the Dome property in Namibia and four in the Athabasca Basin
on the Wolverine, Johnston Lake and Gumboot properties.
Namibia
Drilling in Namibia
in February extended the Marble Ridge zone of calcrete hosted mineralization to
1,900 meters long and 200 meters wide. The average thickness of the
mineralization is 1-3 meters and the average grade in drill hole samples is
100-300 ppm U3O8.
Analytical results from the November drilling have
been received. Anomalous uranium values up to 70 ppm U3O8
were obtained from samples from three drill holes and are consistent with
weakly elevated radioactivity observed during down-hole gamma probe
logging. The results from these widely spaced reconnaissance drill holes
demonstrate the potential for other zones of calcrete hosted uranium
mineralization on the property, and further drilling is required.
In September, Pitchstone announced the signing of an
Investment and Earn-in agreement with Rio Tinto that allows Rio Tinto to earn
an initial 49% interest in ?Alaskite? hosted uranium deposits on Dome through
funding of $5 million of exploration.
Athabasca Basin
Pitchstone completed two drilling campaigns at Gumboot
(100% owned) and one at Johnston
Lake (51% owned by Denison
Mines Corp), all of which significantly advanced the projects. Drilling
at Gumboot was particularly successful with an intersection of 1.47% U3O8
and 2.45% Ni over 0.1 meter in a step out hole. The 2011 drilling
extended the strike length of the zone of alteration and sporadic
mineralization at Gumboot to 1,200 meters. More drilling is required at
the zone, which is open along strike in both directions.
On the Wolverine property, a summer drilling campaign
funded by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (?JOGMEC?) was
completed but did not locate significant mineralization or alteration.
Upon the completion of the Wolverine drilling, JOGMEC has fulfilled the
expenditure requirements to earn a 50% interest in the Marten and Wolverine
projects.
Five additional claims totalling 10,400 hectares were
staked in the eastern Athabasca
Basin in 2011. Two of these,
Packrat (1,620 hectares) and Black Bear (2,000 hectares) are 100% owned by
Pitchstone. Two claims (4,740 hectares) were added to the Johnston
Lake property and one was
added to the Marten property (2,040 hectares). The priority Gumboot-Johnston
Lake property now totals
24,600 hectares.
Plans for 2012
Work planned for 2012 includes airborne and ground
geophysical surveys, soil geochemical surveying, and drilling on Athabasca
Basin and Namibia
properties.
Namibia
In Namibia,
exploration will continue to focus on the Dome property. Rio Tinto will
be funding airborne geophysical surveys, follow up geological mapping and a
planned drilling program targetting alaskite hosted uranium. A
contract has been signed with a geophysical contractor for the airborne survey,
which should be completed in the first quarter. In addition to Rio
Tinto?s work programs, Pitchstone is planning exploration on calcrete hosted
uranium targets.
Two year renewals for all four Exclusive Prospecting
Licences in Namibia
have been received from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Athabasca Basin
In the Athabasca
Basin, work is planned on
several properties. The first priority is to follow up on the Gumboot
drilling results from 2011. A drilling program will follow geophysical
re-modeling exercises currently underway. In addition to the work at
Gumboot, several other properties will see exploration activity, including
Packrat and Black Bear, which were staked in 2011. A 50 line-kilometer DC-resistivity
survey is planned for Packrat this winter.
Steven J. Blower, P.Geo., President and CEO of Pitchstone, is the
Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101 with respect to the technical
information in this news release. Sample preparation and analyses for Athabasca
Basin samples were done by SRC
Geoanalytical Laboratories, Saskatoon.
A partial digestion with fluorimetric analysis was used for initial uranium
determinations, and then all samples containing greater than 100 ppm uranium
were re-analyzed with ICP. Sample preparation and analyses for Namibia
samples were done by Bureau Veritas in Swakopmund,
Namibia. A
multi-element ICP-MS/AES analysis was completed on the samples after a mixed
acid, near-total digestion. Pitchstone utilizes internally and externally
submitted standard reference materials for quality assurance and quality
control of the sample preparation and analyses. There is insufficient
information to estimate the true thickness of the intersections.
About Pitchstone
Pitchstone is exploring for uranium in three proven
districts in Canada and Namibia.
The property portfolio features 13 projects in the eastern Athabasca
Basin, Saskatchewan, five
of which are 100% owned. In addition, there are two joint venture
projects in Namibia
and several joint venture projects in the Hornby Bay Basin, Nunavut.
Pitchstone benefits from the collaboration of a unique group of
geologists with extensive uranium exploration and production experience.
On behalf of the Board,
Steven J. Blower, President and CEO