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Eagle Plains samples one m of 0.32% U3O8 at Eldorado
2010-01-18 13:45 ET - News Release
See News Release (C-EPL) Eagle Plains Resources Ltd
Mr. Tim Termuende of Eagle Plains reports
EAGLE PLAINS/99 CAPITAL RELEASE RESULTS OF BASKA-ELDORADO REE/URANIUM PROJECT, NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN
Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. and 99 Capital Corp. have results from 2009 exploration work on the Baska-Eldorado property located 55 kilometres southeast of Cameco's Key Lake uranium deposit in north-central Saskatchewan, Canada. As announced previously in Stockwatch, Eagle Plains has agreed to sell a 100-per-cent interest in the property (less 1-per-cent net smelter royalty) to 99 Capital, while retaining the option to buy back a 50-per-cent interest.
The focus of the $200,000 fall exploration program was to further delineate rare earth elements (REEs) and uranium occurrences outlined in earlier field programs. Work was financed 100 per cent by 99 Capital.
Highlights
Grab samples taken from historical trenches (AGKJR 001 and 002) returned total rare earth oxides (tREO) assays of 55.9 per cent and 30.6 per cent, respectively. Sample AGKJR003, taken over a 0.7-metre interval, returned 18.9 per cent tREO. Individual REE contents for grab sample AGKJR001 are as follows: Ce2O3 -- 28.1 per cent, Nd2O3 -- 9.57 per cent, Eu2O3 -- 0.086 per cent, and Tb2O3 -- 0.051 per cent. Further work is recommended for the property.
2009 work program and results
Bootleg Exploration Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eagle Plains, was engaged to carry out fieldwork, which commenced in late fall of 2009. Work consisted of line cutting followed by ground geophysics, geochemical sampling, prospecting, and geological mapping and sampling.
At the Baska showing, two of seven samples returned anomalous (greater than 300 parts per million) uranium. Sample AGKJR004 returned 1,220 parts per million uranium (0.113 per cent U3O8 assay) from a pegmatite alteration selvedge. Sample JBKJR022 returned 582 parts per million uranium from the margin of a radioactive pegmatite that projected under a highly radioactive swamp. The highest 2009 total rare earth result (tREE) from the Baska showing was 650 parts per million (sample AGKJR005).
At the Eldorado showing grid, four of 13 samples returned significant (greater than 300 parts per million) uranium, with three of those samples returning greater than 1,000 parts per million uranium. The best sample, a one-metre chip sample (JBKJR019), returned 2,680 parts per million uranium (0.326 per cent U3O8 assay). The other notable assay samples include: grab sample BWKJR003 (0.140 per cent U3O8), and one-metre chip sample JBKJR020 (0.124 per cent U3O8). All three samples were collected from a historical trench located near Kulyk Lake. Two thousand nine REE results from this uranium-bearing trench returned up to 694 parts per million tREE (sample JBKJR019).
Mapping of the Eldorado grid in 2009 led to the location of a second set of historical trenches. Three heavy, radioactive samples were collected from these trenches. All three samples (AGKJR 001 to 003) returned exceptional tREO assays of 55.9 per cent, 30.6 per cent and 18.9 per cent, respectively. Sample AGKJR003 is a 0.7-metre chip sample. Individual rare earth element contents for grab sample AGKJR001 are as follows: Ce2O3 A 28.1 per cent, Nd2O3 A 9.57 per cent, Eu2O3 A 0.086 per cent, and Tb2O3 A 0.051 per cent.
The property
The Baska-Eldorado project features both uranium and rare earth element (REE) targets. The claims cover an area of approximately 140 square kilometres and were staked by Eagle Plains in 2006. The Baska area was first worked by Baska Uranium Mines Ltd. in the early 1950s which mapped and sampled a number of radioactive pegmatite occurrences. The Baska dike system has dimensions averaging 230 metres wide by at least 2,000 metres long and is clearly delineated on airborne geophysical maps. Historical assays over the occurrences returned from 0.47 per cent to 1.68 per cent U3O8 (AR 74A11-0003). None of the early work in the area appreciated the potential for REE mineralization, so no historical REE analyses were completed. Recent work by Eagle Plains included a GEOTEM airborne EM and magnetic survey, followed by prospecting and a radon survey to verify mineralization and dimensions of the host intrusions. Six grab samples were collected in 2007 to assess uranium mineralization. Two of the six grab-rock samples collected returned anomalous REE results with one sample (TMKJR012) returning 0.45 per cent tREO.
The Kulyk Lake area comprises two U-Th (plus REE) mineralized pegmatite occurrences: the Eldorado dike (SMDI 0980) and the Kulyk Lake showing (SMDI 0985). The Eldorado dike system is up to five metres wide and has returned historical uranium values from trenches up to 0.17 per cent U3O8. At the Kulyk Lake showing, a series of red secondary fracture fillings has returned historical values up to 0.22 per cent U3O8 and 1.28 per cent Th. No historical analyses for REEs have been reported, but petrographic work indicated the presence of important REE carrier minerals such as monazite and the heavy rare earth element (HREE) carrier mineral Brannerite. Fieldwork completed at the showing in June, 2007, by Eagle Plains included prospecting and grab sampling along the pegmatite dike margins. Sample TMKJR003 from the Eldorado dike returned 0.48 per cent U3O8, 0.43 per cent Th, and 0.23 per cent tREO, also with economically significant Niobium (Nb) (greater than 2,000 parts per million) and Tantalum (Ta) (greater than 300 parts per million).
A review of the mineral showings in relation to the 2007 airborne geophysical data indicates similar patterns as the Baska showing. Both showings plot along a continuous magnetic anomaly associated with elevated airborne radiometrics. The Baska-Eldorado prospect area has good potential to host uranium as a high-grade vein deposit or as a bulk-tonnage deposit, and to host REEs associated with pegmatite dike swarms. More work is recommended for the Baska-Eldorado property including ground-based geophysics, prospecting and mapping.
Eagle Plains/99 Capital purchase agreement
As announced in Stockwatch Nov. 19, 2009, the TSX Venture Exchange accepted for filing a purchase agreement between 99 Capital and Eagle Plains dated Sept. 17, 2009, under which 99 Capital agreed to purchase from Eagle Plains a 100-per-cent interest in the Baska-Eldorado claims. The entire property comprises three contiguous mineral dispositions which are located approximately 200 kilometres north of La Ronge, Sask. Under the purchase agreement, 99 Capital has acquired a 100-per-cent interest in the property by issuing two million common shares to Eagle Plains, subject to escrow restrictions.
Eagle Plains has been granted a back-in option entitling it to purchase a 50-per-cent interest in the Baska-Eldorado property at any time between the second and fourth anniversaries of the closing date by paying 99 Capital the sum of $250,000 plus an amount in cash equal to one-half of all amounts spent by the company on exploration of the Baska-Eldorado property and one-half of all other expenditures by the company in relation to the Baska-Eldorado property plus a premium of 150 per cent applied to each expenditure grouping. If Eagle Plains does not exercise its back-in option it will be granted a 1-per-cent net smelter returns royalty on the Baska-Eldorado property to a maximum of $2-million.
In the event that Eagle Plains exercises its back-in option, the parties will be deemed to have formed a joint venture for the further exploration and development of the Baska-Eldorado property with the company holding an initial participating interest of 50 per cent and Eagle Plains holding an initial participating interest of 50 per cent.
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Tim Termuende, PGeo, hereby designated as a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
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