Thunderbird hands Canadian uranium reins to Mustang in JV deal

Thunderbird Resources has lit the fuse on a fresh uranium exploration campaign in Canada’s world-class Athabasca Basin, after inking a binding option agreement with Canadian-listed Mustang Energy Corporation. 

The deal gives Mustang the right to earn up to an 80 per cent stake in Thunderbird’s Cluff Lake North and Surprise Creek uranium projects.

Meanwhile, Thunderbird will continue to focus on its exciting Rockvale and Kookabookra gold and antimony projects in New South Wales.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mustang can earn 60 per cent of Cluff Lake North and 51 per cent of Surprise Creek by spending C$1 million (A$1.1M) on each project over the next two years. 

An additional spend of C$2M per project would boost Mustang’s stake to 80 per cent in both projects. Thunderbird retains a 2 per cent net smelter return royalty and a free-carried interest until the earn-ins are complete.

Mustang is already entrenched in the Athabasca Basin and says the Cluff Lake North and Surprise Creek projects slot in perfectly, adding fuel to an already powerful uranium portfolio. 

Thunderbird Resources executive chairman George Ventouras said: “This agreement paves the way for focused exploration work to be directed at these highly prospective projects by a capable explorer with significant in-country experience, while freeing Thunderbird up to continue to focus on its exciting Rockvale and Kookabookra gold and antimony projects in New South Wales.”

Cluff Lake North, also known as Moose Lake, is 12 kilometres northeast of Cameco Corporation’s historic Cluff Lake mine in western Athabasca, which produced 62 million pounds of yellowcake over a 22-year mine life. Cameco’s orebody is a basement-hosted and unconformity-related uranium deposit - exactly the kind now being targeted by Thunderbird.

Mustang’s interest in Cluff Lake North stems from Thunderbird’s geophysical survey last year, which lit up three priority drill targets within a structural corridor extending from the original Cluff Lake deposits.

The story gets spicier over at Surprise Creek, just northwest of the famed Beaverlodge uranium district, which produced more than 50 million pounds of uranium. 

Surface samples at the Surprise Creek Fault target returned up to 7.98 per cent uranium oxide, while historic drill holes hit grades as high as 4.37 per cent uranium over 2.1 metres. A recently approved work permit has paved the way for immediate on-ground activity.

Adding to Surprise Creek’s credentials, the area is also prospective for copper, with historical drilling at the nearby Bob Lake and Ellis Bay prospects returning thick copper hits, including 9.1m grading 2.07 per cent copper and 6.6m running at 1.31 per cent copper. Some rock chip samples picked up by Thunderbird clocked a blistering 61.7 per cent copper.

Thunderbird says the new joint venture allows the company to hang onto significant exposure to any upside while freeing up management bandwidth and capital to chase its flagship Rockvale and Kookabookra projects in NSW. 

Both prospects are rich in gold and antimony and just a stone’s throw from Larvotto Resources’ Hillgrove mine, which is Australia’s biggest antimony deposit with a 96,000-tonne resource and 1.13 million ounces of gold.

Thunderbird scooped up the Rockvale and Kookabookra projects in December for a modest $230,000 in cash.

The deal also included 30 million shares issued to the vendors on completion and a further 20 million shares triggered by site access milestones. Two contingent payments totalling $900,000 are tied to drilling and a resource estimate, while an additional $800,000 - payable in cash or shares - is due upon delivering a qualifying pre-feasibility study.

With the deal under its belt, Thunderbird immediately started running the numbers on the historical data over the projects’ 358-square-kilometre grounds.

The findings painted a compelling picture for Rockvale with high-grade rock chip results from earlier diggers confirming the area’s prospectivity. Standout hits include 49.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold with 4.1 per cent antimony and a historic 76g/t gold sample both at its Taits Gully-Four Shafts prospect. 

At another prospect, Union Jack-Silver Spur, assays returned 27.65g/t gold, 1.4 per cent antimony and an eye-watering 1.64 kilograms per tonne silver. 

Additional results from the Camperdown Road prospect include 7.1g/t gold and 0.49 per cent antimony. When combined with existing geochemical and magnetic data, the results helped define 12 high-priority targets.

Geological interpretation at Kookabookra, the company’s second project area, appears to suggest the mineralisation occurs in quartz veins in a similar monzogranite to Rockvale and could be associated with an intrusion-related gold system.

Regular hits above 1g/t gold have now been mapped across a 1000m-long structure, hinting at a significant mineralised system that has never been tested at depth by drilling.

Fieldwork is now underway and initial rock chip samples announced two weeks ago appear to back up the old-timers’ results.

Best hits from Kookabookra included high-grade gold up to 19.3g/t and 8.56g/t, together with 4.12 per cent antimony and 200g/t silver from Rockvale.

With uranium sentiment on the up and boots soon hitting the ground in Athabasca, the timing of its new Canadian joint venture couldn’t be better for Thunderbird to play both hands - one in the energy transition’s most talked-about metal, the other in critical gold-antimony territory at home.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au