Strategic Uranium Properties Staked - Athabasca

RNS Number : 6592O

Power Metal Resources PLC

02 February 2023

 

2 February 2023

Power Metal Resources PLC

("Power Metal" or the "Company")

Athabasca Basin - Strategic Uranium Properties Staked

Power Metal Acquires via Staking the Strategic Haresign Bay and Kernaghan Uranium Properties

Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) the London listed exploration company seeking large-scale metal discoveries across its global project portfolio announces an update concerning its uranium property portfolio focused on the Athabasca Basin area in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Paul Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Power Metal Resources plc, commented: 

"The uranium acquisitions by staking announced today are a further leap forward for Power Metal's strategic uranium interests in and surrounding the prolific Athabasca Basin located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

The two new properties now secured are adjacent to and largely surrounded by major uranium companies and they demonstrate significant uranium prospectivity with geology considered by the Company to be analogous to major producing mines and other uranium deposits within the Athabasca Basin.

Power Metal started the move to build a uranium exploration business in September 2021 and we believe we are now in a particularly strong position. Our intentions do not stop here, with plans to further expand our uranium focused interests where suitable opportunities are identified.

Uranium has a strong following in capital markets and recently the spot uranium price has moved again above USD$50/lb. With the world dynamic shifting strongly in favour of nuclear power generation we believe that Power Metal should continue this push to build its uranium exploration and development business interests in the London financial markets."

HIGHLIGHTS:

§ All claims were acquired by direct mineral claim staking by the Power Metal technical team. They were acquired during the most recent Mineral Administration Registry Saskatchewan ("MARS") electronic registry system claim reopening on 31 January 2023. The staking acquisitions represent some of the most significant additions to the Company's uranium portfolio. Further information on the staking process can be found in the further information section below.

§ The newly acquired Haresign Bay uranium Property ("Haresign Bay") covers a total area of 3,189.2-hectares (31.89km²) located 35km south of the Athabasca Basin. Haresign Bay is surrounded by claims held by uranium focussed companies F3 Uranium Corp, Baselode Energy Corp, CanAlaska Uranium Ltd and Skyharbour Resources Ltd.

§ The newly acquired Kernaghan uranium Property ("Kernaghan") covers a total area of 4,566.2-hectares (45.66km²) within the northeastern edge of the Athabasca Basin. Kernaghan is bordered on three sides by claims held by uranium focussed companies including Standard Uranium Ltd., IsoEnergy Ltd., and Purepoint Uranium Group Inc.

§ During the most recent claim reopening, Power Metal also staked an additional 1,982-hectare (19.82km²) claim area bordering the western extension of its Thibault Lake uranium Property (the "Extension"). Significantly, the Extension covers a historical showing which returned a trenching result of 1.09% U₃0₈ over 10.7m, greatly increasing the overall prospectively of the extended Thibault Lake uranium Property. ²  

§ With the addition of the Kernaghan and Haresign Bay uranium properties, as well as the additional staking at Thibault Lake, the Power Metal Athabasca uranium portfolio now consists of fourteen properties, including two conditional disposals¹, with a combined total area of 940km².

FURTHER INFORMATION

Mineral Claim Staking Process

The mineral claims constituting the Haresign Bay and Kernaghan Uranium Properties as well as the Thibault Lake Extension were acquired directly through the Mineral Administration Registry Saskatchewan ("MARS") electronic registry system.

Where a previous claim owner is unable to satisfy the claim maintenance requirements, that ground is reopened to third party staking at a set time each month. Select reopening's are often highly competitive with many parties attempting to acquire the newly available land.

The total cost of staking was CAD$5,842.34. The newly staked licences come with a two-year term with no minimum spend requirement and which can then be extended for subsequent years by spending a minimum of CAD$146,059 per annum.

The Haresign Bay Property

Haresign Bay is located 43km south of Cameco Corporation's Key Lake Uranium Mine which is the third largest deposit within the Athabasca Basin - with an average mineable grade of just over 2% U₃O₈.¹ Haresign Bay is located 35km south of the Athabasca Basin, along the Key Lake trend, which is defined by a cluster of northeast-southwest trending electromagnetic conductors which extend to the northeast over the Key Lake Mine. The Key Lake trend is a defining geophysical and geological trend within the Athabasca Basin, and Haresign Bay represents a significant position held within this important uranium-rich corridor. 

The Upper Roberta Lake Target ("Upper Roberta Lake" or the "Target") is located in the southwestern part of the Haresign Bay Property and is defined by a gravity low anomaly which is coincident with elevated Radon²²²-in-lake water results. This Target area is further intersected by multiple electromagnetic conductors of part of the Key Lake Trend. Upper Roberta Lake represents a highly compelling target for future work.

The Kernaghan Property

Kernaghan is located within the prolific Athabasca Basin approximately 13km from the Basin's edge. Based on nearby borehole's drilled by Denison Mines Corp., the sandstone-basement unconformity on the Property is expected to be at around 100m depth.

The Kernaghan Property covers multiple anomalous Radon²²²-in-lake water results which are oriented within a northeast-southwest trending belt. This trend is coincident with a magnetic low feature. Kernaghan represents the Company's third property which is located entirely within the Athabasca Basin.

Thibault Lake West Extension

The Extension covers an additional four Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index ("SMDI") points. These SMDI points cover multiple high-grade uranium showings including a north trending zone of strong uranium mineralisation from which historic trenching returned 10.7m of 1.09% U₃0₈.² Several other high-grade uranium showings are covered by the Extension including grab and/or channel samples which returned 4.8%, 1.75%, 0.71%, and 0.66% U₃0₈.^3,4

Next Steps

The Company is preparing fact sheets which will include further information and maps for newly acquired staking. These will be released to the market once ready. Furthermore, detailed data rooms are being prepared.

URANIUM PROPERTIES - HOLDING STRUCTURE

Power Metal has a 100% subsidiary Power Metal Canada Inc ("Power Canada"), which acts as the holding Company for certain Canadian project operations. Power Canada has a wholly-owned subsidiary, 102134984 Saskatchewan Ltd, which is the holder of the Company's Athabasca uranium portfolio.

The Power Metal Canada Uranium Property Map is available to view at the following link:

https://www.powermetalresources.com/power-metal-canada-uranium-map/  

Table 1: 102134984 Saskatchewan Ltd., Athabasca Basin Property Holdings

Project	Licence ID	Area (Hectare)	Area (km2)
Clearwater Uranium Property	MC00015079	1,110	11.1
	MC00015083	563	5.63
	MC00015082	3,191	31.91
	MC00015151	760	7.6
	MC00015646	761	7.61
	MC00015658	1,541	15.41
Tait Hill Uranium Property	MC00015078	1,576	15.76
	MC00015081	968	9.68
	MC00015153	1,530	15.3
	MC00015152	1,886	18.86
	MC00015647	725	7.25
	MC00015648	1,129	11.29
	MC00016158	3,242	32.42
Thibault Lake Uranium Property	MC00015077	2,206	22.06
	MC00015659	2,195	21.95
	AC00018709	1,982	19.82
Soaring Bay Uranium Property	MC00015080	1,255	12.55
	MC00015155	3,375	33.75
	MC00015874	748	7.48
	MC00015875	2,529	25.29
Cook Lake Uranium Property	MC00015212	984	9.84
E-12 Uranium Property5	MC00015213	1,323	13.23
Reitenbach Uranium Property6	MC00015214	2,135	21.35
	MC00015474	1,235	12.35
	MC00015655	4,570	45.7
	MC00015656	5,322	53.22
	MC00015657	886	8.86
	MC00015824	528	5.28
	MC00016155	1,333	13.33
Reindeer Lake	MC00015522	3,336	33.36
Porter Lake	MC00015561	5,656	56.56
	MC00015562	5,198	51.98
Old Woman Rapids	MC00015563	4,851	48.51
	MC00015564	5,063	50.63
	MC00015565	3,044	30.44
Durrant Lake	AC00018000	5,866	58.66
Badger Lake	MC00016253	1,671	16.71
Haresign Bay	AC00018692	3,189	31.89
Kernaghan	AC00018694	4,566	45.66
Total Licence Holding Area		93,998	939.98km2

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1:  https://www.cameco.com/businesses/uranium-operations/canada/mcarthur-river-key-lake

2:  https://applications.saskatchewan.ca/Apps/ECON_Apps/dbsearch/MinDepositQuery/default.aspx?ID=1535

3:  https://applications.saskatchewan.ca/Apps/ECON_Apps/dbsearch/MinDepositQuery/default.aspx?ID=1536

4:  https://applications.saskatchewan.ca/Apps/ECON_Apps/dbsearch/MinDepositQuery/default.aspx?ID=1534

5:  The E-12 Property, currently included as one of the 14 uranium portfolio properties, is subject to a conditional disposal to Teathers Financial PLC for a consideration of £250,000. Work is ongoing to complete that transaction. See Company announcement released on 4 November 2022.

6:  The Reitenbach Property, currently included as one of the 14 uranium portfolio properties, is subject to a conditional disposal to Teathers Financial PLC for a consideration of £360,000. Work is ongoing to complete that transaction. See Company announcement released on 8 August 2022.

Glossary:

Electromagnetic Conductors: In the Athabasca Basin area, uranium mineralisation is often associated with graphitic fault conductors within the crystalline basement. Graphite and faults are more conductive than the surrounding rocks, and thus offer a proven geophysical target for future exploration.

Radon²²² anomaly: Radon-222 anomalism can be an important indicator for uranium mineralisation as Radon-222 is a daughter product of the uranium-235 decay chain.  As a naturally occurring radioactive gas it can be dissolved in water, providing a possible vector towards sites of uranium mineralisation. Due to Radon-222's short half-life (3.8 days) occurrences of strong radon anomalism commonly suggest a local source to the causative uranium mineralisation.

COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT

The technical information contained in this disclosure has been read and approved by Mr Nick O'Reilly (MSc, DIC, MIMMM, MAusIMM, FGS), who is a qualified geologist and acts as the Competent Person under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr O'Reilly is a Principal consultant working for Mining Analyst Consulting Ltd which has been retained by Power Metal Resources PLC to provide technical support.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

For further information please visit https://www.powermetalresources.com/ or contact:

Power Metal Resources plc
Paul Johnson (Chief Executive Officer)	[phone]
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Ewan Leggat/Charlie Bouverat	[phone]
SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker)
Nick Emerson	[phone]
First Equity Limited (Joint Broker)
David Cockbill/Jason Robertson	[phone]

NOTES TO EDITORS

Power Metal Resources plc - Background

Power Metal Resources plc (LON:POW) is an AIM listed metals exploration company which finances and manages global resource projects and is seeking large scale metal discoveries.

The Company has a principal focus on opportunities offering district scale potential across a global portfolio including precious, base and strategic metal exploration in North America, Africa and Australia.

Project interests range from early-stage greenfield exploration to later-stage prospects currently subject to drill programmes.

Power Metal will develop projects internally or through strategic joint ventures until a project becomes ready for disposal through outright sale or separate listing on a recognised stock exchange thereby crystallising the value generated from our internal exploration and development work.

Value generated through disposals will be deployed internally to drive the Company's growth or may be returned to shareholders through share buy backs, dividends or in-specie distributions of assets.

 

END

 

 

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