(Map via Baselode Energy Corp.)
Uranium is at the cusp of a long-awaited bull market. An exploration Company led by an explorer with an uncanny sense for unique discoveries is very confident that its Canadian source will prove to be another “arrow in the quiver” for the Company.
When digging for some of the world's highest-grade uranium in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin area, many operations find success below a layer of sandstone where uniformity-controlled deposits lie. However, unless these deposits are shallow (i.e., within 100 m of surface) or are monstrous in both size and grade to warrant underground development (i.e., Cameco’s (TSX: CCO) McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines), the truth is that a discovery under this
sandstone cover most likely won’t get developed. The most successful uranium discoveries have been either open pits near the edge of the unconformity or basement-hosted deposits just outside the Basin. This has been proven time and time again since the 1950’s. But a new approach by a newly listed explorer believes there is even more potential within the basement rocks waiting to be discovered.
The Athabasca Basin – highest uranium grades in the world:
In 2019, 48 million pounds of uranium was sold globally, 20% higher than the year before. The uranium spot price sits at roughly $33 (USD) per pound as of June 2020, up 36% since the beginning of the year. Accounting for 15% of global production, the average Athabasca uranium grades are roughly 3.95% U3O8, compared to 0.15% U3O8 found elsewhere in the world. With such high grades, it’s no wonder companies vie for exploration lands within this prolific and World-renowned uranium jurisdiction.
As James Sykes, the new CEO of Baselode Energy Corp. (TSX-V: FIND,Forum) puts it, the real score is found in the basement rocks along massive structures that control the uranium deposits. He has been studying the Athabasca area for a long time and has come to the conclusion that the Athabasca unconformity is not required to create an economic uranium deposit. Mined-out basement-hosted uranium deposits such as the historic Uranium City discoveries of the 1950’s and Cameco’s Eagle Point operation, along with recently-discovered basement-hosted deposits, such as NexGen Energy’s (TSX: NXE) Arrow deposit, Fission Uranium’s (TSX: FCU) Triple R, and Denison’s (TSX: DML) Gryphon deposits all prove his thesis correct. The trick of it, really, is understanding the structural controls that allow for prolonged fluid flow and provide the right chemical traps to deposit uranium. In short, the right structure must be large, deep, and old.
A top uranium geologist in the Athabasca Basin, he knows what he is talking about. CEO Sykes has been involved in the discovery of over 550 million pounds of uranium in the Athabasca Basin. Most notably, he was integral in the discovery of NexGen Energy’s Arrow. Now he sees the same, if not greater, potential for Baselode Energy’s recently acquired 41,885-hectare (418 km2) Shadow Project in the same region. In fact, the Shadow property shares numerous structural similarities with the Arrow deposit.
Trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on June 10th, 2020, Baselode is developing a unique exploration strategy to discover high-grade, basement-hosted, near surface uranium deposits within Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin area. What makes this project different from the rest? In an interview with Stockhouse Editorial, CEO Sykes breaks it down as a new way of thinking – “Athabasca 2.0”.
This ideology takes the principles of the unconformity chemical trap, applies them to the basement rocks, and looks for the right structural aspects that promote intense fluid flows. Obviously, uranium-bearing fluids are essential to the equation.
The Athabasca Basin isn’t an easy area to mine. As he explained, the Basin itself is a flowing aquifer. It is a geoengineering nightmare and the only two underground uranium mines beneath the Athabasca Basin have both flooded during development… twice. To mine beneath the Athabasca sandstones, you need to freeze the ground, an expensive undertaking, to say the least. Because of this, for a project to succeed in the Athabasca, it needs to be a monster deposit with bulk tonnage and extremely high grades, such as McArthur River and Cigar Lake. But if you are working in the basement rocks, you can find a minable situation that does not require a monster deposit. But Baselode certainly won’t say “no” to discovering a monster deposit within the basement rocks.
The leadership team backing Baselode believes its 100%-owned Shadow property is one of the best in the Athabasca Basin area. It’s an “outside-the-box” exploration strategy (something Sykes is very comfortable with), and better still, it is essentially under-explored. The idea of looking for structurally-controlled, basement-hosted uranium deposits, as CEO Sykes puts it, is mostly a foreign concept for a lot of explorers within the Athabasca area. While some companies rely exclusively following a conductive trend when exploring for deposits, Baselode has taken a different look at the Shadow property. A conductive trend is excellent to identify potential uranium-bearing structures, but they do not necessarily mean a deposit will be found. In fact, most conductors remain barren to uranium mineralization. A fresh approach to the Shadow property focused on structures first and foremost, analyzing for areas that would provide the right plumbing system and loci for fluid flow. Fortunately, the structural corridor that Shadow covers also contains lot of conductors on it. It feels like a winning scenario for Sykes who recognizes similar features at Shadow as was observed at Arrow prior to its discovery.
There has not been a lot of historic work over the Property. In fact, only the northern part of the property has been covered with historic airborne geophysical surveys. The remainder of the property has never been explored… ever. Yet the intel already gathered by the Baselode team has identified a regional structural system within the Shadow property that boasts uranium, gold and other base metals occurrences along strike. In addition, the rock types in this area are known to be naturally three times more concentrated with uranium than rocks on the other sides of the Basin. Ranging from 15-20 parts per million (ppm), CEO Sykes calls it - “A beautiful, natural setting that can create a massive deposit.”
(Image via Baselode Energy Corp.)
A strong track record, a unique viewpoint:
When it comes to finding new uranium deposits in under-explored areas, CEO Sykes explains that understanding the microscale tectonics of a region is essential to understand the regional scale. He sees self-repeating patterns in geology and once the controls for one pattern are understood, every system can fall in a similar line. The Baselode team has identified a structural mirror image of the Arrow deposit within the Shadow property. This is why the Baselode team is excited and believes it has the potential to discover another Arrow.
Work timeline:
As Baselode gets its permitting secured and awaits the authorization period, the intent is to visit the site and explore the previously identified airborne radiometric anomalies. The potential timeline to get boots on the ground to map and sample the area should happen by the end of this summer. Infrastructure is close, the project sits just 30km from a major highway and the Company has enough regional info to generate targets without doing much work. However, a modern airborne magnetic-EM-radiometric survey is being planned to cover the entire property, just to make sure the Baselode team has all the necessary information at their disposal.
This is a well-financed Company with $700,000 in the bank and a modest market cap. The leadership team anticipates being ready for the drilling stage by the end of this year. CEO Sykes anticipates, if all goes well, that Baselode could be setting on a deposit by February 2021. Afterall, the Arrow deposit was discovered by Sykes and the NexGen crew on the 21st hole on their property, but it was always the NexGen teams favourite area to drill since day one.
A specific view on discovery of basement hosted deposits:
Nearly every time Sykes looks somewhere new, he makes a discovery and keeps finding uranium. Every project he has been involved with over the past decade, save one, he has hit uranium mineralization by exploring new areas.
By doing so, he continues to learn as he goes, honing and sharpening his skills, becoming the uranium hunter he is recognized for today. Seeing all the rocks, he understands the features he is looking for and can apply that to the bigger picture. Looking at that track record and keeping an eye to the future, he stated that the Shadow property is unlike anything he has seen before, but it all makes perfect sense. With Sykes and the Baselode team at the helm, the Shadow property is poised for a quick discovery resulting in an immense payoff for the Company and its shareholders.
For additional information, you can access the Company website here and view its Corporate Presentation for more details here. James Sykes, CEO, can be reached at jsykes@uraniumgeologist.com.
baselode.com
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.