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Standard Uranium begins drilling at Sun Dog
2024-07-25 15:10 ET - News Release
Mr. Jon Bey of Standard Uranium reports
STANDARD URANIUM BEGINS SUMMER DRILL PROGRAM AT SUN DOG PROJECT, NORTHWESTERN ATHABASCA BASIN
Drilling activities have commenced at Standard Uranium Ltd.'s 48,443-acre Sun Dog uranium project, located near Uranium City in northwestern Saskatchewan. Field crews have arrived at the project and drilling has commenced on schedule.
The project is currently under a three-year earn-in option agreement Aero Energy Ltd. that was executed on Oct. 20, 2023. The program will be financed by Aero and will be operated by Standard Uranium.
Highlights:
- Drilling under way: Drilling activities began on July 23, 2024. Approximately 1,000 to 1,200 metres are planned across five to seven drill holes targeting shallow high-grade basement-hosted uranium mineralization, beginning with the Wishbone target area.
- Robust and shallow drill targets: Drill plans comprise helicopter-supported diamond drilling focused on high-priority uranium targets refined by geophysical work completed by the company earlier this year, bolstered by recent prospecting and identification of strong radioactivity at surface within ideal uranium host rocks.
- Untapped uranium potential: One diamond drill will focus on high-priority target areas along refined VTEM (versatile time-domain electromagnetic) corridors with the proven exploration thesis of focusing on major conductor trends associated with crosscutting faults and surficial radioactivity expressions.
- Fully financed: Aero Energy will be financing 100 per cent of the program to meet the year 1 expenditure requirements under the option agreement.
- The company considers uranium mineralization with concentrations greater than 1.0 weight per cent U3O8 (triuranium octoxide) to be high grade.
"The team and I are thrilled to announce that the drill is spinning on our exciting new Wishbone target area, kicking off our summer exploration season," said Sean Hillacre, president and vice-president, exploration, for the company.
2024 summer drill program
The Standard Uranium team has arrived on site and diamond drilling on the first hole is currently under way. The summer program will comprise approximately 1,000 to 1,200 metres of drilling at high-priority target areas following completion of a VTEM Plus survey and geophysical modelling earlier this year.
Sun Dog covers an area of 48,443 acres in nine mining claims, located 15 kilometres from Uranium City on the northern margin of the Athabasca basin. It hosts the historical Gunnar uranium mine, discovered in 1952, which doubled Canada's uranium production and became the largest uranium producer globally in 1956. The Gunnar mine produced approximately 18 million pounds of U3O8 between 1953 and 1981.
Target selection for 2024 drill campaign
Targets were selected and prioritized through an iterative approach working in collaboration with Aero and Convolutions Geoscience teams. Recent prospecting and mapping at the Wishbone, McNie and Spring-Dome target areas have outlined multiple outcrops of favourable uranium host rocks, including graphitic pelite, which is commonly radioactive over greater than 200 metres of collective strike length. Structural measurements and radioactivity mapping have further refined drill targets in these areas.
Targets are ranked and prioritized based on geophysical signature, geological/structural setting, proximity to historical uranium occurrences of interest, and the company's recent prospecting and mapping campaign. A total of seven priority targets were identified to encompass a variety of target types and provide a third phase of regional testing across the project:
- Wishbone target area:
- Approximately five kilometres of strike length along a regional-scale anticline, defined by strong VTEM conductors with associated radioactivity that has never been drill tested;
- Graphitic pelitic rocks have been mapped along both fold limbs, hosting strong radioactivity up to 22,300 counts per second.
- Mineralized crosscutting faults have been mapped in the overlying rocks, which intersect the uranium-bearing graphitic pelite unit;
- Historical outcrop sampling at the northwestern graphitic pelite exposure returned assay results of 0.32 per cent U3O8 and 0.30 per cent copper (SMDI No. 2095);
- McNie target area:
- Approximately four kilometres of untested VTEM conductor strike length;
- The corridors are offset by significant east-west-trending regional faults, which host known uranium showings to the east toward the newly discovered zone at target H15 on the Murmac project and to the west toward the past-producing Gulch uranium mine;
- Spring-Dome target area:
- Historically explored Gunnar-style target focused on mineralized carbonatized granites and pitchblende veins and fractures;
- The Spring-Dome area has been historically drilled with intersections over 1.0 per cent U3O8; however, several showings of uranium south of known drilling with values up to 17.4 per cent U3O8 and radioactivity readings greater than 65,535 counts per second have not been properly drill-tested.
- The company is currently evaluating the priority of this area through prospecting, mapping and geological modelling. The target area south of Spring Lake represents the possibility of a uranium deposit akin to the nearby past-producing Beaverlodge-style Gunnar mine.
Other high-priority target areas, including Haven, Java and Skye, are being reviewed with new data sets and models for a possible winter drill program in 2025.
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Sean Hillacre, PGeo, president and vice-president, exploration, of the company and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.
Historical data disclosed in this news release relating to sampling results on the Sun Dog project are historical in nature. Neither the company nor a qualified person has yet verified these data and therefore investors should not place undue reliance on such data. The company's future exploration work will include verification of the data. The company considers historical results to be relevant as an exploration guide and to assess the mineralization as well as economic potential of the project.
About Standard Uranium Ltd.
Standard Uranium is a uranium exploration company and emerging project generator poised for discovery in the world's richest uranium district. The company holds interest in over 209,867 acres (84,930 hectares) in the world-class Athabasca basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. Since its establishment, Standard Uranium has focused on the identification, acquisition and exploration of Athabasca-style uranium targets with a view to discovery and future development.
Standard Uranium has successfully formed three joint venture earn-in partnerships on its Sun Dog, Canary and Atlantic projects totalling over $23.8-million in work commitments over the next three years from 2024 to 2027.
Standard Uranium's Davidson River project in the southwest part of the Athabasca basin in Saskatchewan comprises 10 mineral claims over 30,737 hectares. Davidson River is highly prospective for basement-hosted uranium deposits due to its location along trend from recent high-grade uranium discoveries. However, owing to the large project size with multiple targets, it remains broadly undertested by drilling. Recent intersections of wide, structurally deformed and strongly altered shear zones provide significant confidence in the exploration model and future success is expected.
Standard Uranium's eight eastern Athabasca projects comprise 30 mineral claims over 32,838 hectares. The eastern basin projects are highly prospective for unconformity-related and/or basement-hosted uranium deposits based on historical uranium occurrences, recently identified geophysical anomalies and location along trend from several high-grade uranium discoveries.
Standard Uranium's Sun Dog project in the northwest part of the Athabasca basin in Saskatchewan comprises nine mineral claims over 19,603 hectares. The Sun Dog project is highly prospective for basement-hosted and unconformity-hosted uranium deposits yet remains largely untested by sufficient drilling despite its location proximal to uranium discoveries in the area.