NXE Disappoints - Only 239M LBSThis is from March 8, 2017.
VANCOUVER — NexGen Energy (TSX: NXE; US-OTC: NXGEF) has pushed the resource at its wholly owned Rook I property in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin, past the 300 million lb. contained U3O8 mark in its latest update.
Rook I’s basement-hosted Arrow discovery now contains 1.2 million indicated tonnes grading 6.9% U3O8 for 180 million lb. and 4.3 million inferred tonnes at 1.3% U3O8 for 122.1 million pounds. The upgrade marks an 89% inferred-to-indicated conversion rate based on a maiden resource released early last year.
The Arrow deposit is highlighted by the A2 zone, which hosts 400,000 indicated tonnes averaging 18.8% U3O8 for 165 million contained pounds. Doubling the lower cut-off grade to 0.5% U3O8 drops the indicated and inferred resources by only 5%.
NexGen is fast-tracking work at Arrow, including a $14-million first-quarter 2017 drill program with seven drill rigs and a minimum 35,000 metres.
“Twelve months ago on this day we released the maiden resource at Arrow, which ranked it as the single largest, undeveloped uranium deposit in the Athabasca at the time,” CEO Leigh Curyer said during a conference call.
“We’ve expanded the resource in terms of grade, confidence and size. We’ve seen the high-grade A2 zone expand and established the strong continuity of mineralization at Arrow. A high-grade domain in the A3 zone is in the early stages of definition, but it’s the largest shear by volume.”
Arrow is hosted entirely within basement rocks, and comprises five parallel-stacked, sub-vertical mineralized lenses that hit the sub-Athabasca unconformity 105 metres below surface. The resource extends 970 metres below surface, with the A2 and A3 shears hosting higher-grade, thicker and more continuous mineralization.
NexGen’s vice-president of exploration and development Garrett Ainsworth noted that the deposit’s footprint has grown, with multiple shears and zones being defined. There are also several large untested targets at Arrow, including to the southwest and northeast along strike.
Drill results released in February represented mineralization intersected in untested areas outside the maiden A2 and A3 resource grade shells, including some of the most “intense mineralization” found in the A3 shear to date.
“When you consider the strong technical characteristics at Arrow, including strong metallurgical results, it suggests the potential to be one of the most economically powerful resource assets in the world, when in production,” Curyer said.
“We’ve got more than enough defined pounds in the indicated and inferred categories to commence economic studies. We’ve conducted engineering work to form the basis of a prefeasibility study by early 2018. We’re considering a PEA in the near future based on this updated resource, however, to give the market some direction on the economic potential at [Arrow].”
February 22, 2021
The FS defines Probable Mineral Reserves of 239.6 M lbs of U 3 O 8 contained in 4,575 kt grading 2.37% U 3 O 8 from the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources, summarized in Table 3. The Probable Mineral Reserves include diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when material is mined. A majority of the Mineral Reserves are based on Measured Mineral Resources, and 100% of the Mineral Reserves allocated to the Probable category based on the Project's current development stage.