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Uravan takes land position in the Athabasca Basin |
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Written by Newswire
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CALGARY, AB — Uravan Minerals Inc. has started acquiring a land position in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. This is a significant first step in obtaining a major position in this uranium endowed district, says the company.
The Athabasca Basin is an ancient sandstone basin hosting unconformity-type high-grade uranium deposits accounting for about 35% of global natural uranium reserves. The ore grades are high, typically 5 to 20% U(3)0(8). Since the late 1970s most exploration and development in the Athabasca Basin has occurred along its eastern margin. The lack of new discoveries during the 2004-2008 exploration expansion period suggest future venture capital needs to be directed to under-explored terrain, albeit deeper and more basin-ward.
Through 'holistic basin analysis', Uravan is selecting favourable under-explored corridors for acquisition. Over the last year Uravan has completed several studies to facilitate land selection:
- A regional Athabasca basin-wide geophysical and historical database compilation;
- A basin-wide archived core study;
- The Cigar West uranium deposit orientation survey and;
- Competitor assessment.
With this information and database, corridors of interest have been identified and areas of specific acquisition chosen.
Given the challenging land access issues Uravan has experienced in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Uravan has now focused its land acquisition and exploration priorities to the Athabasca Basin and other deposit models globally.
Uravan is developing new exploration technologies for the discovery of the next generation of high-grade uranium deposits in under-explored basin environments. By developing these innovative technologies, Uravan's goal is to discover economic deposits quicker and more cost effectively. The objective is the discovery of an economic uranium mineralized intersection on at least one-in-three exploration projects explored and to reduce by two-thirds the number of drill holes to discovery.
To accomplish this vision, Uravan has partnered with the Queens Facility for Isotope Research (QFIR). QFIR is a state-of-the-art research facility that provides some of the most technologically advanced analytical equipment in Canada. Under the direction of Dr. Kurt Kyser, the QFIR research team is working with Uravan's technical group to develop new exploration technologies using applied research.
Uravan is a Calgary; Alberta based R&D mineral exploration company specializing in new uranium exploration frontiers. For further information, visit www.uravanminerals.com
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