Valor Resources Ltd (ASX:VAL) is planning a follow-up diamond drilling program at Hook Lake Uranium Project in Canada's prolific Athabasca Basin following an on-ground field program that returned assays of up to 59.2% U3O8.
Drilling will test at depth and along strike at a historical trench at Hook Lake/Zone S Prospect where surface sampling returned high-grade assays of up to 59.2% U3O8, 5.05% total rare earth oxides (TREO), 507 g/t silver and 14.5% lead.
The company has already secured all necessary permits for the drilling program granted by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment and relevant stakeholders, including First Nations communities, are being contacted regarding the program.
The drilling will be helicopter-supported in an effort to reduce environmental impact on the area.
Drilling is planned for December with an expected 10-15 drill holes expected for about 2,500-4,500 metres of proposed exploration.
The program will also explore test targets at the West Way prospect where recent surface sampling returned assays of up to 0.64% U3O8 and 3.4% Molybdenum.
“Land grab in Athabasca Basin”
Valor Resources is predominantly focused on uranium, precious and base metals. Apart from the company’s Picha and Corona Project in Peru – two copper-silver exploration projects with a combined 6,000-hectare exploration concession – it has recently been investigating uranium opportunities in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada.
“Following on from the results published in August 2021 and desktop reviews being undertaken, we are pleased to be finalising the upcoming drill program scheduled for December. We will be targeting three key areas to begin with and look forward to the results as they come to hand,” executive chairman George Bauk said.
“Over the past month with the increase in the spot uranium price to over US$50/lb we have seen an unprecedented land grab in the Athabasca Basin. Most of the basin has been pegged which highlights the excitement and prospectivity of this area. We have seven projects in and around the basin that demand exploration attention.”
Strike open to northeast and southwest
“Final drill hole locations are currently being determined with historical drilling data being digitised and compiled and integrated into a 3D geological model over the Zone S target area,” Bauk continued.
“The Hook Lake high-grade uranium (and rare earth) mineralisation is interpreted to be located at a dilational trap/jog which has formed at the intersection of a northeast-southwest trending shear zone and a possible north-south trending structure (potentially a re-activated Tabbernor fault structure).
“Besides the downdip and down-plunge potential of the immediate Hook Lake target, there is potential for further structural targets of this nature along strike to the northeast and southwest from the Hook Lake prospect.”
On-ground technical team boosted
VAL has reinforced its on-ground technical team with the secondment of a fulltime geologist from Dahrouge Geological Consulting from October for at least three months.
Australian-based geoscience consulting group Terra Resources has also been contracted to provide geophysical services to Valor, especially its Athabasca projects.
Terra Resources will also carry out historical data compilation for VAL’s projects in the area, starting with the Hook Lake Project. Data will be captured digitally then integrated with other geoscientific data sets to develop 3D geological models and targets.
Work is being carried out by the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) Geoanalytical Laboratories in a mineralogical characterisation study of high-grade uranium and rare earth elements from the Zone S Project which will include QEMSCAN Mineralogical analysis.
QEMSCAN is a type of analysis involving Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning electron microscopy.