Casey: high impact targets!!For years, low uranium prices meant that exploration companies searched mainly for high-grade ores - the type of deposits that all but guarantee a profit even during downturns in the market. But with prices rising, the industry is now realizing that lower-grade deposits may be important sources of yellowcake. After all, such ores are very profitable with uranium at multi-year price highs.
In fact, one of the world’s largest uranium mines - Rossing, Namibia - works a bulk tonnage target at grades less than 0.1% U3O8. It’s no wonder that a number of companies are now quietly looking for the next Rossing. Where might such a mega-deposit be found? Perhaps very close to home. The province of Quebec has long been known to host so-called pegmatite uranium deposits - similar to the geology of Rossing.
A few explorers have been catching our attention with potentially high-impact targets in this region. For example, Uracan Resources [TSXv:URC] has assembled a prospective land package in southern Quebec, with trenching yielding results of 0.2% U3O8 over as much as 40 meters. The company will be drilling aggressively in 2007 to prove up a resource, which shows signs of being sizeable.
And the coming year may see the discovery of a completely new Rossing-type deposit in northern Quebec. Quebec experts Azimut Exploration [TSXv:AZM] along with partner Northwestern Mineral Ventures [TSXv:NWT] spotted the potential in the area a few years ago, confirming their hypothesis through sampling in 2006 at the North Rae project which yielded assays of up to 0.5% U3O8 - ten times the average grade at the Rossing deposit. And like Rossing, the North Rae mineralized system appears to extend over several tens of kilometers, giving it potential for huge ore reserves.
The initial drill program on the target will be completed during the coming season, possibly representing a turning point and driving home to investors that Quebec has the potential to host a world-class deposit. (We’ll be paying very close attention to the progress of the drill program in the pages of the Casey Energy Speculator).
Full text can be found here: https://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=30383