Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. is pleased to announce the initial results from a newly discovered zone of uranium mineralization within the Patterson Lake conductive corridor at the Hook Lake project in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin.
The best assays to date from the "Spitfire Zone" have returned a weighted average of 0.32% U3O8 over 6.2 metres that includes an interval of 1.1% U3O8 over 0.5 metres. The Hook Lake project is a joint venture with AREVA Resources Canada Inc. and Cameco Corporation.
Uranium mineralization has now been encountered in two of the four drill holes that have all intersected the D2 conductor and its associated structure the Spitfire Fault. Discovery drill hole HK14-09 intersected mineralization within strongly chloritized and sheared quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss that returned 0.32% U3O8 over 6.2 metres and included an interval of limonitic fault gouge that assayed 1.1% U3O8 over 0.5 metres. The follow-up hole, HK14-11, targeted the Spitfire structure 30 metres up-dip and encountered radioactivity coincident with the same graphitic unit intersected by HK14-08 and 09. The strongly sheared graphitic pelitic gneiss returned 0.57% U3O8 over 0.9 metres and an additional interval of 0.11% U3O8 over 2.0 metres.
"The D2 electromagnetic conductor has long been considered a high priority target due to its coincidence with a large magnetic low, possibly indicative of hydrothermal alteration" said Scott Frostad, Purepoint's Vice President of Exploration. "Now that the D2 conductor has been shown to be associated with uranium mineralization, we will increase our drilling efforts towards the northeast where geophysics suggests there is a more structurally complex setting."
Highlights:
- The D2 conductor, now known to be associated with uranium mineralization, is 2.9 kilometres in length and has only been tested by four drill holes along a single section line;
- Hole HK14-09 returned a weighted average of 0.32% U3O8 over 6.2 metres from a strongly chloritized and sheared quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss;
- Hole HK14-11 intersected 13.9 metres of strongly sheared graphitic pelitic gneiss that returned 0.57% U3O8 over 0.9 metres and an additional interval of 0.11% U3O8 over 2.0 metres;
- A second drill on the property is being mobilized to the newly discovered Spitfire Zone to assist with its follow-up and expansion.
Hole HK14-08 was the initial hole to test the D2 conductor and was drilled using PQ-sized casing in the same location as last year's failed holes HK13-05 and 5A. The vertically drilled hole encountered 105.1 metres of overburden then numerous intervals of unconsolidated Athabasca sandstone before reaching the unconformity at a depth of 139.6 metres. Quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss was encountered to a depth of 274.0 metres before intersecting 21.2 metres of Graphitic pelitic gneiss with moderate, patchy hematite alteration. The graphitic unit was moderately broken throughout and hosted a 90cm hematitic fault gouge (Spitfire Fault), and also had minor gouge seams that were weakly radioactive. The hole was completed at a depth of 363.0 metres within moderately foliated, unaltered quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss. No significant radioactivity was encountered by this hole.
The discovery hole, HK14-09, was collared 20 metres southeast (135 degrees) of the HK14-08 collar and commenced drilling at a dip of -70 degrees to the northwest (315 degrees) to intersect the graphitic Spitfire Fault closer to the unconformity. The hole was cased through overburden to a depth of 114.9 metres, drilled Athabasca sandstone to 150.1 metres, then encountered quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss with typical paleoweathering before becoming strongly chloritized and sheared for the 6.2 metres of previously described uranium mineralization between 208.9 and 215.1 metres. The main graphitic unit was encountered below the radioactive structure, between the depths of 228.8 and 244.5 metres, where the Spitfire fault appeared as an 8.3 metre shear zone with gouge seams, less than 1 metre in width, and low radioactivity. The hole was completed in relatively unaltered quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss at a depth of 393.0 metres.
Hole HK14-11 was collared 30 metres northwest of HK14-09 as a follow-up and was also drilled at a dip of -70 degrees to the northwest. Overburden was encountered to a depth of 98.5 metres and the unconformity was intersected at a depth of 147.0 metres. Quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss with typical paleoweathering alteration was drilled to a depth of 197.9 metres then a strongly sheared, moderately chloritized and weakly bleached graphitic unit was encountered to a depth of 211.8 metres. In total, three intervals of mineralization were intersected within the graphitic Spitfire Fault appearing as a mylonitic shear zone that includes 0.11% U3O8 over 2.0 metres between 197.9 and 199.9 metres, 0.05% U3O8 over 3.0 metres between 201.9 and 204.9 metres, and 0.57% U3O8 over 0.9 metres between 210.6 and 211.5 metres. The hole was lost within quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss at a depth of 321.0 metres.
The most recently completed hole, HK14-12, was collared 30 metres northwest of HK14-11 and again drilled at a dip of -70 degrees to the northwest. The hole targeted the graphitic Spitfire Fault 30 metres up-dip of HK14-11 and much closer to the unconformity. Overburden was encountered to a depth of 109.5 metres followed by Athabasca sandstone to a depth 146.0 metres. Quartz-rich semi-pelitic gneiss was encountered to 167.1 metres before intersecting the Spitfire Fault that appeared as a 0.5 metre wide, weakly radioactive graphitic fault gouge, then strongly chloritized quartz-rich semi-pelite that becomes unaltered at the completion depth of 309.0 metres.
Drilling on Patterson Lake to test the conductor outlined by last year's small moving loop transient electromagnetic survey has been completed and the drill is now mobilizing to the Spitfire Zone. Three drill holes, HK14-10, 13 and 14, have been completed on Patterson Lake and results will be released once assays have been completed and reviewed.
Core samples are submitted to the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) Geoanalytical Laboratories in Saskatoon. The SRC facility is ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (scope of accreditation #537). The samples are analyzed using partial and total digestion inductively coupled plasma methods, for boron by Na2O2 fusion, and for uranium by fluorimetry.
All drill intercepts are core width and true thickness is yet to be determined.
Hook Lake Project
The Hook Lake project is owned by Cameco Corp. (39.5%), AREVA Resources Canada Inc. (39.5%) and Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (21%) with Purepoint being the project operator since 2007. It consists of nine claims totaling 28,683 hectares and is situated in the southwestern Athabasca Basin only 5 kilometres northeast of the new high-grade PLS uranium discovery by the Fission/Alpha joint venture. The depth to the Athabasca unconformity is very shallow, ranging from zero to 350 metres. Three prospective structural "corridors" have been defined on the property, each corridor being comprised of multiple EM conductors that have been confirmed to be the results of graphitic metasediments that intersect the Athabasca unconformity.
The Patterson Lake Corridor is the same conductive trend along which Fission Uranium Corp. continues to intersect high-grade uranium mineralization, most notably the intercept of 9.08% U3O8 over 54.5 metres in drill hole PLS13-075 (Fission Uranium Corp. press release of September 4, 2013) including 21.8% U3O8 over 21.5 metres. Within the Hook Lake project, the Patterson Lake Corridor displays geophysical evidence of a complex structural history and, where drill tested, has shown favourable signs of alteration and structural disruption.
Source: http://www.purepoint.ca/