Standard Uranium Ltd (TSX-V:STND, OTCQB:STTDF) announced that diamond drilling has begun at its 100% owned Sun Dog project in Saskatchewan's northwestern Athabasca Basin, south of Canada’s first uranium mining camp in the Beaverlodge district.
The uranium exploration company said Standard Uranium and Base Diamond Drilling crews began mobilizing to the project on February 24. Drill equipment has arrived on site and is being deployed to the first drill pad.
Two diamond drills are testing high-priority target areas on the project, following up on known uranium mineralization in addition to prospective alteration and structure intersected during the winter 2022 inaugural program, the company added.
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“Our team of geologists have done a great job of extracting value from the historical exploration reports on the project and coupling that information with our modern understanding of how these high-grade uranium systems work,” Standard Uranium president and CEO Jon Bey said in a statement. “Armed with the invaluable data collected from our inaugural drill program in 2022, we are poised for a very exciting drill program this winter.”
Winter 2023 drill program
Standard Uranium noted that diamond drilling and geophysics completed in winter 2022 have further refined high-priority uranium drill targets across the 15,770-hectare property.
Several gravity-low and resistivity anomalies have been identified and coincide with breaks or flexures in electromagnetic (EM) conductors under the Athabasca sandstone cover, providing compelling unconformity-related uranium targets.
The perched uranium mineralization present in the Athabasca sandstone outcrop on the project remains to be properly drill-tested at depth and during the 2023 winter drill program the company said it aims to discover the high-grade “roots” of these mineralizing systems in the basement rocks underlying the sandstone. In addition, a portion of the planned holes will follow up along conductor strike from historical basement-hosted uranium mineralization.
After the Standard Uranium team arrived at the project on February 27, the company said drilling commenced at the first Java target drill hole on March 3.
It said this season’s drill targets will focus on the Java, Johnston-Bay, Haven, and Skye target areas following up on known high-grade uranium mineralization and prospective alteration including dravite and clay alteration.
Java target area
Standard Uranium said the Java target at the northwest end of Johnston Island encompasses the historical JNW-1 prospect and a compelling unconformity-related uranium target area to the north. The JNW-1 prospect was channel sampled in 1977 by SMDC with results of 0.43% U3O8 (triuranium oxide) over 4.2 metres (m) at surface. Individual grab samples from surface returned results as high as 12.4% U3O8.
Located approximately 350m to the north of the JNW-1 prospect is a 1.5-kilometre-long EM trend that was drill-tested by several drill holes which encountered strongly altered and brecciated, chlorite, sulphide, and graphite-bearing metasediments underlying the Athabasca sandstone.
The best historical hole in the area, LAO-1, contains 0.10% U3O8 over 1m. Given the reconnaissance-scale drilling so far, the company said it believes that the true potential of the target area has not yet been tested.
Johnston-Bay target area
The company noted that the Johnston-Bay target area links the Java and Haven target areas and contains several kilometres of untested conductors coincident with northeast-southwest striking cross-faults and gravity low anomalies.
Historical drill holes in the area have intersected sporadic mineralization with results up to 205 parts per million (ppm) uranium over 1m within graphitic metapelite in drill hole LA1-005. Winter 2022 drill hole SD-22-002 in the area intersected localized dravite alteration and SD-22-003 intersected elevated radioactivity up to 300 counts per second (cps) within a graphitic metapelite.
Haven target area
Standard Uranium said it discovered the Haven prospect during 2020 ground truth sampling. At the previously undocumented Haven prospect, four samples were collected, with three returning greater than 0.10% U3O8, and a maximum of 0.70% U3O8.
During 2022 field mapping and prospecting, the surface expression of mineralization on south Johnston Island (Haven-Walli target areas) was expanded, with scintillometer readings greater than 10,000 cps and locally off-scale (more than 65,535 cps).
In addition, the company said the fall mapping program revealed outcrop showings of brecciated Athabasca sandstone containing dravite-kaolinite alteration in both the Skye and Haven target areas. Dravite is a key pathfinder mineral for uranium in the Athabasca Basin, which was also intersected in drill holes SD-22-001 and -002 during winter 2022 drilling.
Skye target area
Standard Uranium said the Stewart Island mineralized zone, at the south end of Steward Island, was defined during exploration activities between 1960 and 1969. A historical channel sample across the surface exposure returned 1.05% U3O8 over 2.6m. Historical drill hole N-2 intersected 0.9% U3O8 over 5.49m. The Skye target area encompasses the historical Stewart Island mineralized zone in addition to the un-tested conductive rocks to the west.
The confluence of EM conductors, resistivity-low and interpreted faults remains the un-tested potential at the Skye Target area and the company said it continues with the exploration model that the Stewart Island mineralized zone could potentially be related to an unconformity-related uranium deposit located less than 1-kilometre to the west.
Standard Uranium's Sun Dog project, in the northwest part of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, is comprised of six mineral claims over 17,309 hectares. The Sun Dog project is highly prospective for basement and unconformity-hosted uranium deposits yet remains largely untested by sufficient drilling despite its location proximal to uranium discoveries in the area.
Standard Uranium is a uranium exploration company with a focus on the world-class Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. Since its establishment, the company has focused on the identification and exploration of Athabasca-style uranium targets with a view to discovery and future development.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com