MPM acquires more uranium projectsMaple acquires four additional Patagonia permits
Maple Minerals Corp (TSX-V:MPM)
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Monday July 18 2005 - News Release
Mr. L.M. Falzone reports
MAPLE ACQUIRES ADDITIONAL TARGETS IN ITS PATAGONIA URANIUM PROJECT, CHUBUT PROVINCE, ARGENTINA
Further to its news in Stockwatch of May 19, 2005, Maple Minerals Corp. has been granted four additional exploration permits (cateos) over ground with uranium discovery potential in the Mesozoic San Jorge Gulf basin of Chubut province in southern Argentina (the Patagonia uranium project). With these new acquisitions, Maple has increased its ground tenure in that highly prospective uranium belt to 1,827 square kilometres (refer to this press release on Maple's website for attached map). Further information on the uranium mineralization of the area can be found in Maple's news in Stockwatch of May 19, 2005.
The four newly granted exploration permits cover radiometric anomalies and uranium mineral showings in caliche occurrences within flat-lying conglomeratic horizons of the Pampas de Arroqui formation of Pleistocene age, and other sediments of Quaternary age, in the eastern portion of the San Jorge Gulf basin. The extensive uraniferous conglomerates, which outcrop or are covered by a thin soil layer, unconformably overlie the eastern extension of the Upper Cretaceous Chubut group which hosts the Cerro Solo, Cerro Condor and Sierra Cuadrada uranium deposits in the central part of the San Jorge Gulf basin. The uranium mineralization within the conglomeratic horizons consists mainly of carnotite (hydrated potassium-uranium-vanadium oxide) as disseminations, concretions and coatings of pebbles.
Potential exists in the four exploration permits for discoveries of economic concentrations of the surficial calcrete-style of uranium mineralization. Worldwide, the most famous examples of this deposit style are BHP-Billiton's Yeelirie deposit (115 million pounds U3O8) in western Australia and Paladin Resources' Langer Heinrich deposit (56 million pounds U3O8) in Namibia.
Previous uranium exploration of Maple's new exploration permits, conducted by the Commission Nacional de Energia Atomica de Argentina (CNEA: the National Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina), consisted of an airborne radiometric survey in the late 1970s with limited ground follow-up in 1980. A small number of shallow pits dug by the CNEA contain uraniferous intervals including 0.9 metre at 0.07 per cent U3O8, 0.8 metre at 0.08 per cent U3O8 and 0.9 metre at 0.05 per cent U3O8.
Maple's president, Gino Falzone, commented: "With these new acquisitions, we now have extensive groundholdings covering uranium targets at four separate stratigraphic levels in a large underexplored basin with excellent uranium discovery potential. We look forward to starting our field exploration programs there in August when climatic conditions improve."
Maple has retained a team of Argentinean geologists with considerable uranium exploration experience to drive its ground acquisition program in Argentina. Other Maple applications for exploration permits over uranium targets are being processed by the relevant authorities in the provinces of Cordoba and Mendoza.
Stewart Taylor, Maple's vice-president, international operations, is acting as the qualified person for the Patagonia uranium project.