NickelX Ltd (ASX:NKL) has identified uranium mineralisation and high-priority target areas at the Elliot Lake Uranium Project in Ontario, Canada, with data compilation and a review of the tenure.
While historical drilling has been sparse at Elliot Lake thus far, the drill holes still intersected uranium mineralisation with values up to 9 metres at 100 parts per million (ppm) uranium and 0.8 metres at 900 ppm uranium.
Overall, the data review revealed a potential mineralised strike of 35 kilometres and three priority target areas, two of which have known mineralisation.
Potential for discovery
“The company now owns 100% of the Elliot Lake Uranium Project, part of which is already granted,” NickelX managing director Matt Gauci said.
“Our first-pass geological review has identified priority target areas with results from a complementary geophysical review expected shortly.
“Importantly, as we are targeting strata-bound conglomerate style uranium along underexplored interpreted extensions of a major uranium mining centre, the mineralisation is often consistent in grade and thickness, making for rapid discovery potential.”
The Elliot Lake Uranium Project in south-central Ontario is next to the historic Elliot Lake uranium production centre where 362 million pounds U3O8 were mined in the 1950s to 1990s. Also shown is Cameco’s Blind River uranium refinery, 35 kilometres south of the project.
NickelX has identified the Crazy Lake-Gods Lake trend to be the highest priority target, along strike from the historical Quirke No 1 Mine 14 kilometres to the east, which exploited mineralised uranium ‘reefs’ of up to 13 kilometres long and 5.5 kilometres wide.
The company is reviewing geophysical data to better target and generate prospective zones after which NKL will undertake reconnaissance fieldwork, including mapping, sampling and drill hole sitting in April and May this year.
Historical uranium assays
Full assays from Elliot Lake include:
- 9 metres at 100 ppm uranium from the Inspiration occurrence;
- 1.8 metres at 230 ppm from the Crazy Lake occurrence;
- 0.8 metres at 900 ppm from the Mattaini occurrence; and
- 0.8 metres at 200 ppm from the Rawhide occurrence.
The Elliot Lake uranium district has historically produced 362 million pounds of uranium at 1,060 ppm from 13 underground mines active within a 15-kilometre by 15-kilometre area between 1955 and 1996, making for fertile ground for uranium exploration.
The Denison mine, the largest in the area, boasts a uranium strike 19.5 kilometres long and up to 8 kilometres wide with individual uranium reefs between 2 and 4 metres thick.