Fission Uranium Corp. (
TSX: V.FCU,
Stock Forum) and its joint venture partner
Azincourt Resources Inc. (
TSX: V.AAZ,
Stock Forum) announced an update this week on their summer exploration plans at Patterson Lake in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabaska Basin.
The program, budgeted at $530,000, and expected to start in early August, will consist of airborne VTEM max and ground time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) and Magnetotellurics (MT) geophysics surveys.
These surveys will assist in identifying and prioritizing drill targets for the anticipated 2014 winter program.
The Patterson Lake area has received escalating exploration attention and claim acquisition activity as a result of the new, shallow discoveries made by Alpha and Fission, including the recently reported drill interval of 6.25% U308 over 49.5 metres in drill hole PLS 13-053 on the Patterson Lake South property.
To date, $4.7 million has been spent at Patterson Lake, principally on airborne and ground geophysics.
Patterson Lake is adjacent to Fission and
Alpha Minerals Inc.’s (
TSX: V.AMW,
Stock Forum) PLS property and 5.7 kilometres north of where Fission has discovered high-grade uranium in bedrock on three separate pods.
Fission was unchanged Tuesday at 96 cents, leaving the company with a market cap of $144 million, based on 149.9 million shares outstanding. The 52-week range is 96 cents and 52 cents.
Meanwhile,
Athabasca Nuclear Corp. (
TSX: V.ASC,
Stock Forum) said five members of the Western Athabasca Syndicate, including Athabasca Nuclear,
Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (
TSX: V.SYH,
Stock Forum),
Noka Resources Inc. (
TSX: V.NX,
Stock Forum) and
Lucky Strike Resources Ltd. (
TSX: V.LKY,
Stock Forum) have increased their geophysical survey coverage for the Western Athabasca Syndicate Project, which is also in Saskatchewan.
The Western Athabaska Syndicate is a strategic partnership formed between Skyharbour, Athabasca Nuclear, Lucky Strike, and Noka to explore and develop a 287,130 hectare uranium project along the Western Athabasca Basin.
The project surrounds Alpha Minerals and Fission Uranium’s Patterson Lake South uranium find. It also adjoins projects being advanced by Fission Uranium,
Forum Uranium Corp. (
TSX: V.FDC,
Stock Forum) Aldrin Resources Corp. (
TSX: V.ALN,
Stock Forum),
NexGen Energy Ltd. (
TSX: V.NXE,
Stock Forum),
Zadar Ventures Ltd. (
TSX: V.ZAD,
Stock Forum), Azincourt Resources, and other regional exploration companies.
The project is bisected by the all-weather Highway 955, which runs north through the PLS uranium discovery being advanced by Fission Uranium and Alpha Minerals, through to the former Cluff Lake uranium mine.
Under an agreement, each of Skyharbour, Athabasca Nuclear, Noka and Lucky Strike will receive an option to earn 25% of the Western Athabasca Syndicate project by making a series of cash payments, share payments and incurring exploration expenditures totaling $6 million over the 2-year term of the agreement.
Athabasca Nuclear rose 3.4% Tuesday to 15 cents, leaving the company with a market cap of $6.5 million, based on 43 million shares outstanding. The 52-week range is 19.5 cents and 4 cents.