Valor set to drill test Canadian uranium play

ASX-listed Valor Resources is about to wheel in the rotary truth diviner at its Hook Lake uranium prospect deep in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Major Drilling has been contracted to run the 2500 metre drill program which will comprise of ten to fifteen 200-250m deep holes. The drill targets are within the “S Zone” target, where previous surface sampling returned assays of up to 59.2 per cent uranium oxide.

The on-site exploration work is being managed by local Canadian company Dahrouge Geological Consulting with the geophysical compilation and interpretation being carried out by Perth company Terra Resources.

The Hook Lake Uranium project is located 60 kilometres east of the Key Lake Uranium Mine in northern Saskatchewan and sits about 700km north-east of Edmonton in Canada. The not-so-enviable task of camp construction in the chilly white Canadian winter has been allocated to Discovery Mining Services. 

Valor holds a substantial 300 square kilometres of uranium-rich terrain on the south-eastern margin of the famed Athabasca Basin. Its ground boasts 16 contiguous mineral claims hosting several prospective areas of uranium mineralisation with minor silver, lead and high-grade rare-earth elements neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium adding some unexpected value to the project.

The drill targets at Hook Lake are within Valor’s “S Zone” target area, where the company’s previous surface sampling returned some seriously good assays of up to 59.2 per cent uranium oxide. Additionally, one historic grab sample yielded up to an eye-watering 68 per cent uranium oxide from a massive pitchblende vein discovered by previous operator JNR Resources in 2006.

The uranium vein occupies a 1km x 10m long diagonal jog within a south-southwest trending ductile-brittle shear zone that cuts felsic to mafic intrusive host rocks. The showing consists of a 0.5m to 1.0-metre-wide pitchblende vein exposed over a short strike length. Two grab samples taken by JNR returned 48 per cent and 40.1 per cent uranium oxide, whilst a soil sample taken over the vein returned 27.8 per cent. The uranium mineralisation in this vein is associated with up to 8.8 per cent lead, enriched rare earth elements and anomalous boron, cobalt and vanadium.

Previous rock chip sampling by Valor from in-situ uraninite mineralisation within a biotite gneiss confirmed historic high-grade uranium mineralisation with four out of seven samples returning high-grade uranium assays and elevated rare earths above 0.5 per cent total rare earth oxide, silver greater than a respectable 50 grams per tonne and 1.8 per cent lead.

Interestingly, a boulder sample located approximately 300m east of the Hook Lake trench also returned high-grade uranium and rare earths, running a gobsmacking 59.2 per cent uranium oxide and a solid 5.05 per cent total rare earths.

Last month the Bank of America set off a rally in uranium stocks in North America after it expressed the view of a growing acceptance of nuclear as a power source in a decarbonised economy.

China has also made it clear that uranium has a major role to play as it transitions away from relying on its 2,990 coal-fired generators.

The Hook Lake high-grade uranium and rare earth mineralisation is interpreted to be structurally controlled and is located at the intersection of a northeast-southwest trending shear zone and a possible north-south trending fault structure. In addition to the down-dip/down-plunge potential of the immediate Hook Lake target, management says potential exists for further structural targets of this nature along strike to the northeast and southwest.

The Hook Lake project is one of five projects owned by Valor across the vast mineral field, where it now controls more than 980 square kilometres of prime uranium hunting ground. The region is famous for its high-grade uranium mines which include the Cluff Lake, Uranium City and Rabbit Lake operations and Cameco’s high profile Cigar Lake underground mine, where the average ore grade tops an impressive 15 per cent uranium oxide and the milling operation pumps out around 4,600 tonnes of uranium oxide per annum.

Valor will be hoping for some big hits in its maiden drill program at Hook Lake and if successful, the company is well positioned in this high-grade uranium jurisdiction as the lucrative energy metal comes back into vogue in some parts of the world.

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