Standard Uranium Ltd (TSX-V:STND, OTCQB:STTDF) vice president of exploration Sean Hillacre joined Proactive to discuss the company’s latest geophysical work across three key projects - Atlantic, Rocas, and Corvo - in the Eastern Athabasca Basin.
Hillacre explained that these surveys are critical in de-risking exploration and making projects drill-ready, providing turnkey opportunities for potential partners.
Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. Joining me now is Sean Hillacre, vice president of exploration for Standard Uranium. Sean, great to see you again. How are you?
Sean Hillacre: Likewise. Doing well, thanks.
Awesome. The company released news today about an update on your geophysical work at three of your projects. I know this type of work is something you've been doing a lot recently. Is de-risking these projects the best way to describe it?
That’s right. It really aligns with our project generation strategy on these eastern projects. We are de-risking them and pushing them towards being drill-ready, creating turnkey opportunities for potential partners to earn into.
Let’s talk about these projects, starting with Atlantic and Rocas. You’ve done some significant work on those two.
That’s right. We drilled Atlantic for the first time. It consists of a couple of different claim blocks near the Hurricane deposit on the eastern side of the basin. We drilled on the western claim block and saw promising results, including uranium mineralization, strong alteration, and shear zones.
The new survey package we completed was on the central claim block of Atlantic, which is closer to the Hurricane deposit. We conducted ground gravity surveys there. Rocas, located just south of Key Lake, underwent similar ground gravity surveys.
These surveys help identify density anomalies, which can indicate alteration halos associated with uranium mineralization. This technique, combined with EM surveys, helps us refine drill targets along conductors. Gravity surveys pinpoint the best drilling locations to target these anomalies.
And you did some airborne work at Corvo as well?
That’s right. Corvo is just outside the margin of the basin near the West Bear deposit on the east side. It has seen some historical work, though less than Rocas. However, it has strong uranium showings at the surface, some mineralized drill holes, and known conductors.
The conductor signatures we had were from older surveys, so we upgraded the project with airborne EM. This helped refine conductive corridors and make the project more drill-ready. We just completed the survey and are working on modeling the data. I’m excited to see the results.
You’ve taken these projects to a certain point with your work, but your strategy involves bringing in partners to advance them further. Do you reach a stage where you wait for a partner, or do you continue working until one is found?
That’s a great question. With our strategy, our in-house team of geologists is always evaluating land opportunities. The Athabasca Basin is highly staked, so we monitor the staking system closely to see what becomes available.
Over the past year, we’ve added more than 45,000 acres to our portfolio, including expansions at Corvo and Ascent, as well as acquiring Rocas, Umber, and Sable. We assess projects based on historical data—Saskatchewan has a fantastic geoscience database—and determine the best way to enhance them.
We conduct cost-effective geophysical surveys to add value and prepare projects for partners. This approach allows us to maintain project standing, secure necessary permits and agreements, and create turnkey opportunities for new entrants or partners.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style