Standard Uranium Ltd (TSX-V:STND, OTCQB:STTDF) said on Friday it has signed a definitive option agreement with Vital Battery Metals Inc, granting the latter the right to earn a 75% interest in the Corvo uranium project in Canada's eastern Athabasca Basin.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vital Battery Metals can acquire the interest by making $225,000 in cash payments, issuing $725,000 worth of shares, and funding $4.5 million in exploration over three years.
Standard Uranium will operate the project during the option period and will receive operator fees totaling just over $500,000, escalating from 10% in the first year to 12% in the third.
“We are happy to welcome the Vital Battery Metals team to the Athabasca Basin,” said Jon Bey, CEO and Chairman of Standard Uranium. “We look forward to getting started on extensive work programs on the project together, driving meaningful exploration towards uranium discovery in the eastern Basin.”
The 12,265-hectare Corvo project lies just outside the Athabasca Basin margin and features more than 29 kilometers of exploration strike length along three magnetic low trends. Historic drilling on the property has intersected uranium mineralization, including 0.057% U₃O₈ over 3.5 metres, and surface sampling at the Manhattan Showing returned up to 59,800 parts per million uranium.
A recent time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) survey has refined drill targets across the property, which Standard Uranium believes is prospective for high-grade, shallow, basement-hosted uranium deposits similar to Rabbit Lake and the Gemini zone.
Upon full earn-in, the companies plan to form a joint venture for further development of the project. Eagle Plains Resources retains a 2.5% net smelter return royalty on the project, with 1% of that buyable back for $1 million.