Reviewed by Alex SmithApr 22 2022
Basin Uranium Corp. (“Basin Uranium”), a partner company of Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (the “Company”), has announced that its diamond drilling program at the Mann Lake uranium project in Saskatchewan’s prolific Athabasca Basin is set to begin in spring 2022.
Mann Lake Uranium Project. Image Credit: Basin Uranium Corp.
The Mann Lake project lies 25 kilometers southwest of the world’s biggest high-grade uranium resource, the McArthur River Mine, and 15 kilometers northeast of Cameco’s Millennium uranium deposit.
I am happy to report that the drill is turning and we are now coring at Mann Lake. Since acquiring the project from Skyharbour Resources in late 2021, the Basin team has made great strides in consulting, permitting, planning, and now drilling in a very short period of time. Our focus now is on executing our exploration plans for 2022 in a responsible, safe and timely manner.
Mike Blady, CEO, Basin Uranium Corp.
Under the direction of TerraLogic Exploration Inc., Bryson Drilling Ltd. is offering diamond drilling services. Bryson Drilling is a local independent Saskatchewan family business with over 100 years of combined drilling expertise for some of the province’s largest exploration and mining corporations in the Athabasca Basin.
About Mann Lake
Skyharbour has signed into an Option Agreement (the “Agreement”) whereby Basin Uranium has an earn-in choice to purchase a 75% interest in the Mann Lake Uranium Project. Basin Uranium Corp. will provide CAD $4,850,000 in cash and research expenditure consideration over three years (“Project Consideration”) under the Option Agreement.
The Project Consideration will consist of $850,000 in cash transfers to Skyharbour and $4,000,000 in exploratory costs for the project. To complete the earn-in, Basin Uranium Corp. will issue Skyharbour the equivalent of CAD $1,750,000 in Basin Uranium shares during the three years.
The Mann Lake Uranium Project is situated 25 kilometers southwest of the world’s biggest high-grade uranium resource, the McArthur River Mine, and 15 kilometers northeast of Cameco’s Millennium uranium mine.
The Mann Lake project is also near the Mann Lake Joint Venture, which is jointly owned by Cameco (52.5%), Denison Mines (30%) and Orano (17.5%). After a 2014 winter drill campaign identified high-grade, basement-hosted uranium ore at this nearby property, Denison Mines purchased International Enexco and also its 30% interest in the project.
In 2014, Skyharbour conducted a ground-based EM study in a region where a 2-kilometer-long aeromagnetic low aligned with basement conductors derived from previous EM measurements. The presence of a large, NE-SW trending corridor of conductive basement rocks — most likely graphitic metapelites, was verified by this program.
Triex spent almost $3 million on prior exploration at the Mann Lake Uranium Project, including geophysical surveys and two diamond drill projects totaling 5,400 meters in 2006 and 2008. Graphitic basement conductors and structural corridors carrying reactivated basement faults were discovered during the geophysical studies. These characteristics run parallel to Cameco’s adjacent property.
In drill hole MN06-005, a 4.5-meter wide zone holding anomalous boron (with highlight levels up to 1,758 ppm B) was encountered in the sandstone directly above the unconformity during the 2006 diamond drill program. Boron enrichment is prevalent in the McArthur River uranium mine, and it is an important pathfinder component for uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin, along with illite and chlorite alteration.
Alternated basement gneissic rocks with rich clay, chlorite, hematite and calc-silicate minerals were encountered around 7.6 meters under the unconformity in the same drill hole and contained anomalous uranium, up to 73.6 ppm across a 1.5-meter period. Background uranium levels are usually between 1 and 5 ppm.