Kivalliq Energy Corporation (Kivalliq) today announced it has made a strategic addition to the Company's project portfolio through a transaction with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada, Inc. and Rio Tinto Canada Uranium Corporation (Rio Tinto) to acquire a highly prospective uranium property, adjacent to the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada.
Kivalliq has, subject to all necessary approvals, acquired 100% of Rio Tinto's Hatchet Lake Uranium Property, subject to a 2% NSR:
- 13,711 hectares (33,880.6 acres) in six claims adjacent to the north-eastern margin of the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan and three and a half (3.5) kilometres to the north west of Kivalliq's Genesis Property
- Hatchet Lake is located 39 km along trend from the Roughrider uranium deposit and within 29 kilometres of Cameco's Eagle Point uranium mine
- Multiple unconformity related basement targets of interest based on results from recent work by Hathor Exploration Ltd and Rio Tinto, including geophysics, boulder, soil, lake sediment and bio-geochemical sampling
- At least five priority target areas selected for follow-up exploration in 2015
- Low net acquisition cost
"The Hatchet Lake project fits well with Kivalliq's strategy to add high quality uranium exploration projects to our portfolio at low acquisition costs," stated Jim Paterson, Kivalliq's CEO. "The project has compelling targets based on comprehensive early stage exploration work by Hathor and Rio Tinto, with estimated expenditures exceeding $750,000 since 2007. The project's proximity to one of the world's premier uranium mining and milling districts and possible synergies with exploration planned for the Genesis Property combine to make Hatchet Lake an excellent addition to Kivalliq's portfolio."
Previous Exploration
There is no record of mineral exploration over the Hatchet Lake property prior to the discovery of uranium at Rabbit Lake in 1968. Early exploration between 1968 and 1980 by groups including Gulf Minerals Canada Ltd, Canadian Superior Exploration Ltd and SMDC comprised airborne and ground geophysical surveys, surface sampling and drilling based on boulder, geochemical and radon anomalies. No further work was conducted until the property area was staked by Roughrider Uranium Corporation in 2005.
Recent Exploration
In 2007, following a takeover of Roughrider, Hathor Exploration Ltd (Hathor) collected 420 lake sediment samples and flew magnetic and Versatile Time Domain (VTEM) surveys over the claims. The VTEM survey defined 30 individual conductive trends with a combined strike length of 53 line kilometers. In 2008, Hathor collected an additional 837 soil and 215 rock samples. 19 of these rock samples returned assays greater than 0.2% U3O8 with a high of 1.17% U308 in a pegmatitic boulder. Exploration in 2012 by Rio Tinto included the collection of 306 soil samples, 1153 bio-geochemical samples and 31 rock samples. The Rio Tinto work identified uranium in soil anomalies coincident with known mineralization in boulders and outcrops and geochemical signatures known to be associated with uranium mineralization.
"The Hatchet Lake property was initially staked by Roughrider Uranium Corporation for its potential to host significant uranium deposits, being situated on the Mudjatik-Wollaston transition zone and along strike from world class uranium deposits such as McArthur River, Cigar Lake and Midwest Lake," stated Kivalliq director Dale Wallster. "I'm pleased to see that Kivalliq will now be able to utilize the high quality data developed from exploration work performed by both Hathor and Rio Tinto and expect that drill targets will be developed soon."
Kivalliq Exploration Priorities
Exploration priorities include an immediate compilation of all available data to rank uranium occurrences and refine Kivalliq's five priority targets for future drilling. Plans and budgets for the Hatchet Lake Property will be disclosed after a full review of existing data has been completed. Kivalliq is eligible to recoup a $173,876.45 deficiency deposit on the claims upon completion of equivalent exploration expenditures on the Hatchet Lake project prior to February 1, 2016.
Terms for the Acquisition of the Hatchet Lake Uranium Property
Subject to receipt of all necessary approvals, Kivalliq will acquire 100% interest in the Hatchet Lake Property on the following terms:
- Kivalliq making a cash payment upon execution of the agreement of C$220,000, subject to all claims being in good standing as of the closing date;
- Rio Tinto transferring a 100% interest in the Hatchet Lake Project to Kivalliq;
- Kivalliq granting Rio Tinto a 2% NSR royalty on the Hatchet Lake Project, with Kivalliq holding a buy-down right of 0.5% for C$750,000 (in the event Kivalliq exercises its buy-down right RTX's remaining royalty will be a 1.5% NSR royalty).
Source: http://www.kivalliqenergy.com