Article on UEX and TUEhttps://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=11328
Athabasca Moonhops on Dazzling Uranium Strike
By Tim Wood
13 Jul 2005 at 10:26 PM EDT
NEW YORK (ResourceInvestor.com) -- UEX Corporation [TSX:UEX] saw its market value soar
more than 78% in a couple of hours, and on staggering volume of 4.7 million shares. A
superlative drill hole intercept at the Shea Creek joint venture drove the stock, which had
until recently been a laggard among its uranium seeking peers.
With the price of uranium oxide well entrenched just below $30 per pound, up almost five
fold since 2001, stocks associated with the mineral have been on a tear. As a result, and
because uranium deposits are so common, dozens of not-so-new projects are coming
online to take advantage of the boom. So far little harm has been done with all boats
floating higher on the rising price tide.
The Shea Creek project, under option from COGEMA, a subsidiary of French integrated
uranium giant AREVA [PSX:CIE], reported that drill hole SHE-114-5 intercepted 27.4%
U3O8 over 8.8 metres, including 58.32% U3O8 over 3.5 metres.
That’s a glory hole if ever there was one, and it was complemented by Hole SHE-114-5
also intersecting meaningful uranium, including 1.08% U3O8 over 2.2 metres and 5.48%
U3O8 over 1.8 metres.
The news was also helpful to nearby projects in the basin, led by Titan Uranium
Exploration [TSXv:TUE] which gained nearly 41% on the Toronto Venture Board. The
reconstituted uranium explorer listed in June and just recently optioned several Athabasca
projects. The timing was perfect with the Castle North claims located to the North, East,
and South of Shea Creek and with the same structures apparent.
Other Athabasca juniors making a showing were JNR Resources [TSXv:JNN] which gained
17%, Canalaska Ventures [TSXv:CVV] gained 16%, whilst Strathmore Minerals [TSXv:STM]
shot up 12%.
UEX’s owners, Pioneer Metals [TSX:PSM] and Cameco [CCJ], gained 16% and two fifths of a
per cent respectively.
The drilling was conducted by COGEMA as the operator at the project. The 2005 Spring/
Summer drilling program has been underway since April and wraps up in the fall. The
spectacular intercepts came from work on the Anne and Colette deposits at Shea Creek
which is located in the Western Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan.
It’s too early to be sure about what the full drill programme will reveal, but a geologist we
consulted said it was certainly impressive. He thought there might be some comparison
with the structure of the depleted Eagle Point and Collins Bay deposits owned by Cameco.
However, he warned that the intercepts above and below the unconformity could be a
problem for water ingress if the deposit were mined, though it was hardly likely to derail
things.
UEX noted that it was “unprecedented to see a mineralized intersection of this grade and
thickness so high in the sandstone above the unconformity.”