 | |
|
|
Key Highlights
Historic uranium resources have increased by more than 130% from 4.71 million pounds* to 11 million pounds* with new acquisition.
Significant uranium zones were intersected on both the Bootheel and Buck Point Zones during the late 1970's.
Target is the Operator and Manager.
Uranium mineralization on the properties has the potential to be recovered by in-situ recovery methods.
*Historic resource - non 43-101 compliant
Location
The Bootheel and Buck Point Properties cover approximately 10,500 acres located within the Shirley Basin in Albany County, Wyoming. The centre of the Shirley Basin is about 35 miles south of Casper and 32 miles north of Medicine Bow. The properties are readily accessible year round by an extensive system of gravel and dirt ranching roads which extend from paved highways north and east of the town of Medicine Bow.
Claim Ownership
Target has a property agreement with certain subsidiaries of Ur-Energy Inc. (TSX: URE) to acquire a 75% participating interest in the Bootheel and Buck Point Uranium Properties. In addition, Target has a Mineral Lease and Surface Use Agreement with MJ Ranches Inc. to acquire MJ Ranches' 75% mineral interest on land contiguous with Bootheel Uranium Property.
History
The Bootheel Property was originally staked in 1958 by Kerr McGee Corp. In 1977, Cherokee Exploration Inc. (Cherokee) acquired the land package, as well as the Kerr McGee database and drilling from 1978 to 1981 partly delineated both shallow and deep sandstone mineralization. In 1995, Cherokee sold the project and database to Cameco who carried out limited drilling and evaluation of the in-situ recovery potential. Although the results were very favourable, Cameco abandoned the property in 1998 due to the low uranium price ($10 per pound). Total drilling on the property is estimated to be over 100,000 feet.
The Buck Point Property was drilled in 1979 and 1980 by Cherokee and Mobil Oil Corp. No further work was been carried out on the property until Target acquired the interest from UR-Energy.
Geology
The Bootheel Property hosts a historic resource defined by exploration work conducted in the 1970's that remains open for expansion. Historic work has identified uranium mineralization in roll front settings up to 600 ft wide, 25 ft thick, having an average grade of 0.044% U3O8.
The Buck Point Zone also remains open for expansion. Mineralization has been found in at least 6 sandstone units over a 250 ft. interval, with grades up to 0.10% U3O8. By analogy to Bootheel, the property is considered to have potential to host significant uranium mineralization.
Previous Exploration
The Bootheel Property is considered an advanced exploration property due to the amount of previous drilling for which the historical data was recently compiled.
Buck Point is considered an exploration property with excellent potential to expand the known mineralization.
Based on the historical drilling and preliminary metallurgical test work, both properties have potential for in-situ recovery should sufficient resources be defined.
Current Exploration
The first phase of the exploration program, which consisted of data compilation and geological mapping on both properties, is now complete. The second phase, which has begun, consists of a 50,000 foot drill program in 80 to 90 holes using two drill rigs on the Bootheel Property. The program includes both exploration and confirmation drilling with the goal of confirming historical drill results and bringing the historic resources into National Instrument 43-101 compliance. Exploration and delineation drill targets were selected based on information gathered from data compilation in the first phase of the exploration program. The extensive database of information indicates that the mineralization occurs in at least seven distinct stratigraphic horizons, which have yet to be explored.
| |
| |
