VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 21, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The uranium investment sector has caught a tail wind. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently announced plans to revive Japan's nuclear energy program. China has 28 nuclear reactors under construction. The US currently consumes over 50 million pounds of uranium, and produces less than 5 million pounds.
The Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada hosts the world's richest uranium deposits. Fission Uranium recently reported a drill interval of 38% U3O8 over 10.5 metres. That is approximately 380 times richer than the world average grade of 0.1% U3O8.
Fission Uranium's stock price has increased 178% in the last 12 months based on the results of a strategic drill program on the Patterson Lake South uranium property.
Geology and timeline suggest that Aldrin Resources (TSX-V:ALN) is poised for similar share price appreciation. Aldrin is developing the Triple M Property adjacent to Fission's Patterson Lake Property. Aldrin's drill targets were created and refined using a helicopter VTEM survey, radio metrics, radon sampling, and ground gravity.
"We will have drills turning on the property within the next few days," stated Aldrin CEO Johnathan More in an exclusive interview with Financial Press, "We have identified a North Easterly trend and this is where we expect to see mineralization."
Aldrin's drill program has been increased up to 4,000 meters from the previously announced 3,000 meters. The targets look extremely similar to uranium deposits elsewhere in the Athabasca Basin, including Fission's high-grade discovery at Patterson Lake.
"We are about 400 meters from the highway. We don't need helicopters, nor do we have to drill through frozen lakes," stated More, "We are drilling two target areas. The first target is along the Forest Lake Fault. The second is an Anticline target. When we ran our VTEM survey we immediately saw these beautiful conductive basement structures."
The "basement" is the old rock that has been metamorphosed, heated and squeezed about 1.5 billion years ago. Within these old rocks there are structures, faults and folds. Fluids moving through the basement tend to go along faults.
"The fault structures are really good places for mineralised fluids to gather," explains More, "A similar thing happens on folds. You get a hill that stretches the rock creating space which can gather minerals. That is exactly what we are seeing on the anticline target."
Aldrin's geological potential and upcoming drill program are attracting some heavy hitters. On March 19, 2014 Aldrin announced that Mr. Stephen Stanley has become an equity stakeholder - requesting $220,000 of ALN stock in lieu of a cash payment. Mr. Stanley is the former CEO of Hathor Exploration, an Athabasca basin uranium company purchased by Rio Tinto in 2012 for US$642 million.
"We are very pleased to have Mr. Stanley as a significant shareholder," states More, "he is a legend in the Athabasca Basin, and his desire to own part of Aldrin demonstrates his belief in our project and our methods. Stanley's group is extremely active in the basin. They are assessing projects, doing geological due diligence, and taking equity positions in companies with big potential upside."
Aldrin has taken the same development steps with Triple M that Fission took to make its discovery. The dawn of a major drill program in the Athabasca Basin has historically been an advantageous time to invest.
"Fission drilled before anyone else," states More, "Then came NexGen who had a discovery from its 2014 drill program. Aldrin is next, with a drill program comparable to NexGen's. We control 12,000 hectares on strike to Patterson Lake mineralized trends."
The Forest Lake Fault is a conductive anomaly that extends more than 3.5 kilometers striking east-northeast across the SE block. The anticline target is a conductive anomaly that extends 2.5 kilometers striking east-northeast.
Multiple drill holes will be used to test both targets. The holes are expected to average about 200 m in depth, although they may be deeper if mineralization is evident.
Major mines in the Athabasca Basin include McArthur River (16.5% U3O8), Maclean Lake (50 million lbs produced), Rabbit Lake (186 million lbs produced), Cigar Lake (22.3% U3O8), Cluff lake (60 million lbs produced).
"Based on all the surveying and geological work," states More, "We believe the basement structures running parallel to the faults will be mineralized in uranium, and the 2014 drill targets on the SE block of the Triple M Property provide a strong possibility for discovery."
On February 18, 2014 NexGen Energy was trading at .22. On February 19, drill results were released from the Rook 1 project in the SW Athabasca Basin. On February 22, the stock was trading at .53. A 97% increase in 48 hours.
Aldrin management owns about 30% of the company and they continue to add to their positions.
Aldrin is currently trading at .09 with a market cap of $10.3 million.
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