news - is this good?Purepoint Uranium Group Inc.: Discovers Wide Radioactive Structure at Red Willow
Tuesday, December 04, 2007 8:01:09 AM (GMT-05:00)
Provided by: MarketWire
TORONTO, ONTARIO, Dec 04 (MARKET WIRE) --
Uranium Group Inc. (TSX VENTURE: PTU) is pleased to announce the results of this season's first-pass drill program at their Red Willow project in the Athabasca Basin. Those results returned 0.20% eU3O8 over a wide interval of 5.8 metres, including 1.01% eU3O8 over 0.1 metres at a depth of only 71 metres.
"We were encouraged when our initial holes into the 'Q' structure intersected uranium mineralization at vertical depths of 105 metres and again at 150 metres" said Scott Frostad, Purepoint's Vice President Exploration. "RW-07 then went on to prove that this same structure not only continues at least 100 metres to the south, it also widens and hosts significant concentrations of uranium".
Crews are scheduled to resume drilling at the discovery zone in a matter of weeks.
"There are four notable attributes to the Red Willow discovery - its uranium grade, structure width, shallow depth and proximity to existing infrastructure" said Chris Frostad, President and CEO Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. "The Rabbit Lake mine, which produced 41 million lbs. of U3O8 at an average ore grade of 0.27%, is a mere 30 km south of this zone".
Highlights:
- Three of the five holes targeting the Q conductor intersected radioactive structure, with the final hole returning 5.8 metres of 0.20% eU3O8 including 0.1 metres at 1.01% eU3O8
- Five major uranium deposits, JEB, Midwest, Cigar Lake, McArthur River and Millennium, are located along a NE to SW mine trend that extends through the Red Willow Project
- The Red Willow project adjoins AREVA 's claim group that contains the JEB, Sue, McClean and Caribou deposits to the west and, to the south, adjoins UEX's Hidden Bay project surrounding the Rabbit Lake, Collins Bay and Eagle Point deposits
- Approximately 3,000 line kilometres of airborne radiometric survey, 150 line kilometres of Gradient Induced Polarization Survey, and the collection of 170 water samples were performed
- Since the claims were first acquired, Purepoint has invested $3,760,000 (or $160 per hectare) in geophysical and geochemical surveys over 12 distinct target areas at Red Willow
Project Summary
Drill holes RW-01 and RW-02 targeted a break on the West Zone conductor located 100 metres from the Wolly property, an Areva/Denison joint venture. These holes intersected bleached sandstone before reaching the unconformity at a depth of approximately 30 metres. Graphitic pelites and favourable structures were encountered, however, neither hole intersected anomalous radioactivity.
Drill holes RW-03, 04, 05 and 06 targeted the Q conductor, a target initially identified by Cameco in 1993. The original Cameco holes intersected a narrow radioactive structure, hosted by graphitic and pyritic pelites, at depths of 35 metres and 90 metres. Purepoint's RW-03 and 06 holes succeeded in confirming this radioactive structure at a vertical depth of 105 metres and 150 metres, respectively. Although radioactivity increased with depth, the host structure remained narrow. Hole RW-04 tested the structure 15 metres south of RW-03 to determine its strike direction and intersected 12 metres of unmineralized quartz at the target depth. RW-05 was lost at a depth of 51 metres.
Drill hole RW-07 targeted the Q conductor 100 metres south of RW-3. The hole intersected a zone of elevated radioactivity between 71.6 and 77.6 metres within strongly black chlorite altered, pyritic pelite. The mineralized Q structure has now been proven to extend 115 metres down dip and 100 metres along strike, and still remains open in all directions.
All drill holes were probed with a total counts gamma probe recently calibrated at the total gamma test pits in Grand Junction, Colorado and corroborated with results from the SRC test pits in Saskatoon. All the drill core samples have now been forwarded to the SRC laboratory in Saskatoon for analysis.
Key drill findings are summarized below:
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Hole From (m) To (m) Width (m) % eU3O8
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RW-03 123.4 123.7 0.3 0.20
125.7 126.0 0.3 0.17
161.5 161.7 0.2 0.14
RW-06 154.9 155.6 0.6 0.06
157.0 157.2 0.2 0.05
172.9 173.1 0.2 0.10
RW-07 67.5 68.7 1.2 0.05
71.4 77.2 5.8 0.20
includes
71.8 72.3 0.5 0.44
73.2 73.7 0.4 0.58
74.2 74.3 0.1 1.01
Line cutting of grid areas over three new VTEM airborne anomalies at Red Willow, namely the Geneva, Dancing Lake and Big Bay conductors, was completed this summer. A new grid was also cut over the Radon Lake area, so named in 1971 due to very high concentrations of radon in the surface water.
Gradient Induced Polarization surveying at Red Willow covered the Lyon Lake conductor, which is associated with boulders assaying up to 1.02% U3O8, and the 333 conductor, which returned up to 0.31% U3O8 from an overburden hole drilled by Gulf Minerals in the 1970's. The survey also covered the newer Geneva, Radon Lake and Dancing Lake grids.
Sampling of water from springs, streams and bogs was performed over the Red Willow grid areas this summer. The purpose of the survey was to detect mobile ions sourced from uranium deposits at depth. Of the 170 samples analyzed, 15 samples returned anomalous dissolved uranium concentrations. The results of the water sampling survey will be used to prioritize this winter's drill targets.
A drill program designed to follow up the RW-07 intercept and test several of the other untested Red Willow targets is scheduled to commence in early 2008.
The Red Willow project consists of eight claims covering 23,000 ha on the eastern edge of the Athabasca Basin. Proterozoic sandstone on the property is found to cover the Archean and Aphebian basement rocks at depths of 0 to 80 metres. The basement is composed of intensely deformed and metamorphosed sedimentary, volcanic and plutonic rocks trending NE to SW. Five major uranium deposits, JEB, Midwest, Cigar Lake, McArthur River and Millennium, are located along a NE to SW mine trend that extends through the Red Willow Project.
The Red Willow project adjoins AREVA Resource Canada Inc.'s claim group that contains the JEB, Sue, McClean and Caribou deposits to the west and, to the south adjoins UEX's Hidden Bay project that surrounds the Rabbit Lake, Collins Bay and Eagle Point deposits.