Lyons Vanadium Property Alba Minerals Ltd. (“Alba”) (TSX - Venture: AA / Frankfurt: A117RU / OTC: AXVEF is pleased to highlight the Lyons Property which features 9 historic mines. The Property is 19 km from the La Sal Complex operated by Energy Fuels Inc. where they are currently running a test mining program targeting vanadium.
*Sage Plain Report:
https://www.energyfuels.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Sage_Plain_Technical_Report_March_18_2015.pdf
*La Sal Report:
https://www.energyfuels.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/La_Sal_-Technical_Report_March_25_2014.pdf
*Whirlwind Report:
https://www.energyfuels.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Whirlwind_Technical_Report_Mach_15_2011.pdf
The Lyons Property is located in Montrose County, Colorado and abuts the Utah-Colorado border. It consists of 144 lode claims with an area of 2975.04 acres (1204 hectares). The claims are adjacent to Colorado Highway 90, which is an extension of Utah Highway 46 that changes designation at the state line. The property is accessible via 4-wheel drive roads off of the highway.
Figure 1 – Lyons claims.
This property has seen extensive exploration and development work, which began in 1913 and has been intermittent since that time. The major amount of mining occurred in the 1950s. The primary commodity of interest historically has been uranium. Vanadium was also recovered as a byproduct and sometimes as the primary element depending on demand at the time (Carter and Gualtieri, 1965).
Pre-1946 vanadium production from the La Sal Creek district, of which the Lyons property is a part, is estimated at 11,440 tonnes containing 220,788 kg of V2O5 (approximately 1.9% V2O5) (Chenowith, 1981). Nine mines are shown within the Lyons claim block on the geologic map of the La Sal Quadrangle (Carter and Gualtieri, 1965).
Figure 2 - A portion of the geologic map of the La Sal quadrangle showing the locations of the nine mines within the Lyons Property. Available vanadium-uranium ratios for the various districts in the quadrangle report 6.3 : 1 in La Sal
Several of the mines were discussed in detail in the text of the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS)report and Table 1 is a listing of the U3O8 and V2O5 grades and their approximate ratios for each mine discussed by Carter and Gualtieri (1965) up through the end of the study (1956).
| Mine Name | U3O8 (%) | V2O5 (%) | Approximate Ratio |
| Angle | 0.70 | 2.60 | 4:1 |
| Confusion | 0.47 | 2.13 | 4:1 |
| Evening Star | 0.24 | 2.00 | 8:1 |
| Marjorie Ann | 0.26 | 1.37 | 5:1 |
| Morning Star | 0.13 | 1.80 | 14:1 |
| New Yellow Spot | 0.13 | 1.70 | 14:1 |
| Sumner | 0.07 | 1.79 | 12:1 |
| Vista Grande | 0.44 | 2.57 | 6:1 |
| Wedge | 0.38 | 1.68 | 4:1 |
Table 1 - Average grades mined through 1956.
Figure 3 shows some of the extensive exploration work completed by the USGS up through 1956 (modified from (Carter and Gualtieri, 1965, Plate 4). The small circles on the map indicate diamond drill holes. In all of the La Sal Creek Mineral Belt the USGS drilled a total of 505 holes with a total footage of 123,371 feet (37,603m) of drilling. The outline of the Lyons claim block has been superimposed on the map.
Figure 3 - La Sal Creek area showing work completed by the USGS.
Ten surface grab rock samples were collected from the Lyons property in September 2018. The samples were sent to ALS Laboratories in Reno, Nevada for analysis. Figure 6.4 shows the locations of the samples within the Lyons claim block. Table 2 lists the UTM coordinates, uranium and vanadium assay results.
Figure 4 - Locations of samples collected September 26, 2018
Sample
Number | East
UTM | North
UTM | U
ppm | V
ppm | V
% | V2O5
Equivalent
% |
| 320475 | 1196225 | 4274004 | 280 | 12750 | 1.275 | 2.28 |
| 320476 | 1196704 | 4274874 | 230 | 10150 | 1.015 | 1.81 |
| 320477 | 1196678 | 4274882 | 280 | 3740 | 0.374 | 0.67 |
| 320478 | 1197012 | 4274377 | 550 | 4040 | 0.404 | 0.72 |
| 320479 | 1197106 | 4274319 | 420 | 2960 | 0.296 | 0.53 |
| 320480 | 1198237 | 4275013 | <50 | 3890 | 0.389 | 0.69 |
| 320481 | 1198140 | 4274995 | 110 | 2870 | 0.287 | 0.51 |
| 320482 | 1198094 | 4274949 | <50 | 2020 | 0.202 | 0.36 |
| 320483 | 1198005 | 4274904 | <50 | 4890 | 0.489 | 0.87 |
| 320484 | 1198065 | 4274946 | <50 | 8570 | 0.857 | 1.53 |
Table 2 – Lyons surface sample assay results.
The transaction with Journey Exploration Inc. remains subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Bradley C. Peek, MSc and Certified Professional Geologist, who is a Qualified Person with respect to the Torado Vanadium & Uranium Project as defined under National Instrument 43-101.
References
Carter, W. D. and Gualtieri, J. L., 1956, La Sal Creek Area, Montrose County, Colorado: U. S. Geological Survey Trace Element Investigation TEI-620, pp. 57-60.
Chenowith, William L., 1981, The Uranium-Vanadium Deposits of the Uravan Mineral Belt and Adjacent Areas, Colorado and Utah: New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 32nd Field Conference, Western Slope, Colorado.