Mega Uranium Ltd. ("Mega") (TSX:MGA) and NexGen Energy Ltd. ("NexGen") are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which NexGen will acquire the majority of Mega's Canadian uranium projects, which are located in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan and the Thelon Basin, Nunavut (collectively "Canadian Projects"), in exchange for an aggregate of 16,406,815 common shares of NexGen (subject to adjustment under certain circumstances on closing).
The Canadian Projects and NexGen's Radio project will collectively represent one of the most promising uranium exploration portfolios in Canada, with projects in the uranium-prolific Athabasca Basin that include:
- Radio: NexGen has an option to acquire a 70% interest in the Radio property, which is situated directly to the east of Rio Tinto Group's Roughrider property. The Radio property covers interpreted eastern extensions of the E-W structure that hosts Roughrider, Roughrider Far East and Fission Energy Corp.'s J-zone. NexGen has recently secured drill permits for the Radio project and anticipates commencing drilling in Q1 2013.
- Rook 1: The wholly owned Rook I property is located directly to the northeast of the Patterson Lake South property being explored by Fission Energy Corp. and its joint venture partner Alpha Minerals Inc. who recently reported results including "an intersection of a 13.0m wide interval of strong mineralization, including intermittent intervals, totaling 2.14m, of off-scale (>9999 cps) radioactivity in hole PLS12-024", (Fission Energy Corp.'s news release dated November 12, 2012). Untested conductors on the Rook I property lie directly on strike and 3km to the northeast of the mineralized intercepts reported by Fission Energy Corp.
- Northwest Athabasca: Encouraging preliminary results were recently announced for the NW-Athabasca project, in which Mega and its joint venture partner Forum Uranium Corp. are jointly earning a 60% interest (which interest is anticipated to vest upon completion of the current program). A 1.4m mineralized interval in drillhole NWA-35 contained a 25cm section that gave an off-scale scintillometer * reading (>9999 cps) confirming the presence of high grade mineralization on the property (Mega's news release dated November 8, 2012).
Figure 1 below provides a map showing the location of the Radio project and the Canadian Projects in the Athabasca Basin.
To view "Figure 1: Radio project and the Canadian Projects in the Athabasca Basin", please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/northatabasca.pdf
The transaction is expected to be completed prior to the year-end, subject to the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions. On closing, it is anticipated that Mega will hold an approximately 38% equity interest in NexGen. Mega will also have nominees on the company's board of directors proportionate to its equity interest.
Mega continues to hold its Canadian projects in the Yukon and in the Central Mineral Belt in Labrador and is evaluating strategic alternatives for those projects.
Michael Downes Ph.D., P.Geo., Vice President North America and Qualified Person for Mega, has reviewed the technical content of this news release.