New Uranium Area Play?Is UEX in the Thelon Basin? Both Cameco and Cogema have acquired ground here.
Pathfinder Acquires Uranium Rights Covering 3.5 Million Acres
4/14/05
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Apr 14, 2005 (CCNMatthews via COMTEX) --
Pathfinder Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:PHR) -
Massive Land Position Establishes Pathfinder as Largest Uranium Explorer in Thelon Basin, a Highly Prospective Region for Discovery of Unconformity Uranium Deposits
Pathfinder Resources Ltd. reports it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Diamonds North Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:DDN), whereby Pathfinder can earn an 80% interest in uranium rights in Diamonds North's exploration permits which cover 3.5 million acres of land within and peripheral to the southeastern Thelon Basin located approximately 500 kilometres east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
The MOU requires the Company to make a cash payment of $100,000, and staged issuance of 2 million shares and exploration expenditures of $4 million over 3 years to earn an 80% interest in the uranium rights. Diamonds North will retain a 20% interest carried to completion of a bankable feasibility study on any uranium deposits. Pathfinder will be the operator of the uranium exploration program.
The Thelon Basin is geologically similar to the prolific Athabasca Basin located about 300 kilometres to the south. The Athabasca Basin hosts a number of world-class unconformity-type very high-grade uranium deposits, which have been discovered at depths to 800 metres. The Thelon Basin has a number of unconformity-related uranium prospects, however, due to its more remote location, it has not received the intensity of exploration accorded to the Athabasca Basin. Major uranium mining companies known to hold interests in the Thelon Basin include Cameco Corporation (TSX VENTURE:CCO) and Cogema.
"The Thelon Basin is today at the stage of exploration that the Athabasca Basin was in the early 1970's when peripheral basement-hosted deposits had been known but the importance of the unconformity-type uranium deposit had not been recognized. Given the close geologic similarities of the Thelon and Athabasca Basins, I believe the Thelon Basin has been vastly underexplored and potential for McArthur River and Cigar Lake scale deposits exists," states Vic Tanaka, President of Pathfinder Resources.
Mr. Tanaka was exploration manager of Asamera Minerals Ltd., one of the joint venture partners in the properties that covered the McArthur River, Cigar Lake and Dawn Lake deposits. The McArthur River and Cigar Lake uranium deposits are among the largest unconformity uranium deposits ever discovered.
The 2005 exploration program will comprise extensive regional till and soil sampling; several size fractions of the samples will be analyzed using multi-element ICP in order to identify areas of higher priority to be flown with geophysical surveys.
Mark Kolebaba, President of Diamonds North states, "As a diamond explorer, this arrangement with Pathfinder allows us to create additional value from our extensive land holdings and expose our company to the tremendous upside offered by successful uranium exploration. Pathfinder's management team has strong uranium exploration and discovery experience, and we look forward to working with them to test the region's uranium potential."
Pathfinder Resources is a mineral exploration company focused on the discovery of world-class deposits. The Company holds a 100% option interest in the Dude copper-molybdenum-gold property and is a 33.3% participant in an exploration syndicate to explore for uranium deposits in Central America. Further uranium project acquisitions are planned to capitalize on management's uranium exploration expertise. Pathfinder is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange with the symbol "PHR".
Victor A. Tanaka, President
Shares Issued: 16,661,925
Pathfinder Resources Ltd.
John Gomez Investor Relations
Tel (604) 687-2153 ext. 143
jgomez@pathfinderresources.com
www.pathfinderresources.com