- Expanding High-Grade Footprint: UEC intersects
additional high-grade uranium mineralization with CB-178-1, its
first drill hole in the 2023 Sakura Zone drill program at the
Christie Lake Project ("the Project"). This intersection expands
the footprint of the high-grade mineralization at the new zone,
first reported in October last year, CB-178-1 is approximately
10 m from CB-176A that graded 68.7%
eU3O8 over 2.1
m.
- Premier Location: Christie Lake is nine km northeast of
McArthur River, the world's largest high-grade uranium mine, and
along the same geological trend (see Figures 1 & 2). The Sakura
Zone, discovered in August 2022, is
along the Yalowega mineralized corridor (see Figures 3 &
4).
- Infrastructure Advantage: The Project straddles the
Eastern Athabasca High Grade Uranium Corridor, representing a
19,576 acre land package situated between the two world class
uranium operations at McArthur River and Cigar Lake.
- Synergies with Roughrider Project: Christie Lake is one
of the key projects in UEC's Eastern Athabasca Hub strategy and the
company is considering the synergies between this project and the
Roughrider and Horseshoe-Raven Projects.
- Ongoing Exploration: These intercepts represent the
first results of the 3-month winter campaign. More holes are
anticipated to be reported over the winter, leading to an update of
the Christie Lake resource in 2023.
CORPUS
CHRISTI, Texas, Jan. 23,
2023 /CNW/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE American: UEC)
(the "Company" or "UEC") is pleased to announce new
uranium mineralization in drill hole CB-178-1 that grades 5.42%
eU3O8 over 15.6 metres, including a
subinterval that grades 23.2% eU3O8 over 3.4
metres (Table 1). This result expands the footprint of high-grade
uranium mineralization at the Christie Lake Project that was
initially announced last year (see press release from October 4, 2022).
Vertical depth to the unconformity-hosted mineralization at
Christie Lake is between 400 and 420 metres ("m") from surface.
This is shallower by about 100 m than
McArthur River and at approximately the same depth as Cigar Lake.
The McArthur River and Cigar Lake Deposits are the archetypical
high-grade Athabasca
super-deposits with combined reserves and past production of 985.7
million lb. uranium.
Amir Adnani, CEO and President
stated: "Following our acquisition of UEX in 2022 we commenced a
drilling program at the Christie Lake Project and reported one of
the best intercepts of the year in Canada's high-grade Athabasca Basin with our discovery at the
Sakura zone, with 68.7% eU3O8 over 2.1
meters. We hit the ground running in 2023 to follow-up and test the
continuity at this new zone and are excited to see the first drill
hole of our new program expand the footprint of the high-grade
mineralization. The results announced today also demonstrate the
capability of our Canadian technical team to unlock value from
UEC's Canadian conventional project pipeline. Moving forward, we
have two objectives with our Eastern
Athabasca Basin projects, 1) continue with aggressive
exploration drilling for resource growth and 2) evaluate potential
synergies for future development given the proximity of Christie
Lake and Horseshoe Raven projects to our recently acquired
Roughrider project."
Chris Hamel, Vice President
Exploration, Canada stated: "The
confirmed continuity of the high-grade uranium mineralization at
the Sakura zone suggests a previously unrecognized trend of uranium
mineralization at Christie Lake. With constrained expenditures
during the years of the uranium bear market the exciting potential
of Christie Lake was left under-explored. We're excited to be
aggressively drilling and growing the world-class potential of this
project. UEC's ability to apply financial strength into the project
builds upon the technical work and compilation efforts done by UEX
since 2016 to set the stage for this success."
Mineralization at the Sakura Zone remains open for expansion in
all directions and is the focus of the 2023 drilling on the
Christie Lake Project.
Table 1: Christie Lake Radiometric Equivalent
Grades from CB-178-1
Hole
|
From
(m)
|
To
(m)
|
Width
(m)
|
Grade
(% eU3O8)
|
Cut-off
Grade
(% eU3O8)
|
CB-178-1
|
|
419.1
|
434.7
|
15.6
|
5.42
|
0.05
|
incl.
|
426.6
|
430.0
|
3.4
|
23.22
|
5.0
|
Notes:
1.
|
True widths of the
mineralization reported in Table 1 is anticipated to be 90-95% of
core length but cannot be verified at this time.
|
2.
|
eU3O8 refers to
radiometric equivalent grade U3O8, and it
determined using calibrated down-hole radiometric probes, a process
further discussed in the section "About Radiometric
Grades".
|
|
|
Figure 1 - UEC's Athabasca Basin Projects
About Canada's Athabasca Basin
The Athabasca Basin is a
world-class uranium district in the northern portion of the
provinces of Saskatchewan and
Alberta in Canada, occupying an area of about 100,000
square kilometers. The unique geology of the Athabasca Basin deposits can result in deposit
grades that exceed the world average of uranium deposits of 0.2%
U3O8 by up to 100 times.
All of Canada's current uranium
production occurs from the mines located in the Athabasca Basin. According to the World
Nuclear Association, the Athabasca
Basin was responsible for producing 9.7% of the world's uranium
production in 2021.
Uranium mineralization in the Athabasca Basin occurs in fault structures
that penetrate the interface between the sandstone and underlying
basement rocks, known as the unconformity. Uranium can be found at
the interface, known as the unconformity, or up to several hundreds
of meters below the unconformity surface in the underlying fault
structures in the basement.
The uranium concentrations from holes presented above from the
radiometric equivalent uranium grade ("REG"), denoted as
eU3O8, which is determined in-situ within the
drill hole. For more information on REGs please see the "About
Radiometric Equivalent Grades" section below.
The core recovery from parts of the mineralized zone in hole
CB-178-1 is estimated at approximately 50%. The portions of the
core recovered from the interval confirm the presence of very
high-grade uranium mineralization. Thus, the Company believes that
assay results collected from the mineralized interval may not be
representative of the true concentration of uranium present and
that the REG presented above will be a more accurate estimate of
grade.
About Radiometric Equivalent
Grades
The eU3O8 grades were estimated in-situ
within the drill holes using calibrated down-hole radiometric gamma
probes which are lowered down the hole, a method commonly used by
uranium explorers and miners in the Athabasca Basin. The probe records the amount
of radioactivity present in the rock adjacent to the probe as it
moves up and down the hole.
The probes were calibrated prior to the commencement of the
current drill program at the Saskatchewan Research Council's
("SRC") test pit facility in Saskatoon. Using down-hole probes to calculate
radiometric equivalent grades is a common practice by uranium
mining companies in the Athabasca
Basin. Down-hole probes can accurately measure uranium
concentration by measuring the light flashes that occur every time
the probe's scintillator is struck by a gamma radiation particle
emitted from uranium crystals. The number of light flashes are
'counted' by a photomultiplier tube. Sometimes within high-grade
intervals, due to a process called 'saturation' occurs when light
emitted by the probe's scintillator overwhelms the photomultiplier
tube's ability to 'count' individual light flashes it can be
difficult to accurate determine radiometric equivalent grades.
Samples from all holes have been collected for assay analysis to
confirm these equivalent grades. The samples will be analyzed at
the SRC's Geoanalytical Laboratory in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with results expected
in the coming weeks.
About the Christie Lake
Project
UEC holds an 82.775% combined direct and indirect interest in
the Christie Lake Project which is a joint venture with JCU
(Canada) Exploration Company,
Limited, a company that is 50% owned by UEC's wholly owned
subsidiary UEX Corporation. UEC's direct ownership in Christie Lake
is 65.5492% and indirect ownership through its 50% ownership in JCU
is 17.2254%
The Christie Lake Project is located in the eastern Athabasca Basin (see Figures 1 & 2)
approximately 9 km northeast and along strike of Cameco's McArthur
River Mine, the world's largest and highest-grade uranium mine. The
controlling structure of the McArthur River Mine deposits, the P2
fault, continues to the northeast beyond the mine and trends onto
the Christie Lake Project. Our technical team believes that,
through a series of en-echelon steps, the northeast strike
extension of the P2 Fault not only crosses the Christie Lake
Project but also controls the three known uranium deposits on
Christie Lake: the Ōrora, Paul Bay
and Ken Pen Deposits as well as the newly discovered Sakura
Zone.
Figure 2 - Christie Lake Project Location
Figure 3 - Sakura Zone Mineralization - preliminary zone
boundaries
Qualified Persons and Data
Acquisition
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed
and approved by Chris Hamel, P.Geo.,
UECs Vice President Exploration, Canada who is considered to be a Qualified
Person as defined by S-K 1300.
Figure 4 – Preliminary Cross Section with CB-178-1
About Uranium Energy
Corp
Uranium Energy Corp is the fastest growing supplier of the fuel
for the green energy transition to a low carbon future. UEC is the
largest, diversified North American focused uranium company,
advancing the next generation of low-cost, environmentally friendly
In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") mining uranium projects in the
United States and high-grade
conventional projects in Canada.
The Company has two production-ready ISR hub and spoke platforms in
South Texas and Wyoming. These two production platforms are
anchored by fully operational central processing plants and served
by seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all their major permits in
place. Additionally, the Company has diversified uranium holdings
including: (1) one of the largest physical uranium portfolios of
North American warehoused U3O8; (2) a major
equity stake in Uranium Royalty Corp., the only royalty company in
the sector; and (3) a Western Hemisphere pipeline of resource stage
uranium projects. The Company's operations are managed by
professionals with decades of hands-on experience in the key facets
of uranium exploration, development and mining.
Stock Exchange Information:
NYSE American: UEC
Frankfurt Stock Exchange Symbol: U6Z
WKN: AØJDRR
ISN: US916896103
Safe Harbor Statement
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the information presented in this news release constitutes
"forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable
United States and Canadian
securities laws. These statements relate to analyses and other
information that are based on forecasts of future results,
estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of
management. Any other statements that express or involve
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"forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include,
among others, the actual results of exploration activities,
variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the
estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of
capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the
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limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in
obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the
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Company has attempted to identify important factors that could
cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from
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factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as
anticipated, estimated or intended. Many of these factors are
beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. There can be no
assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in
this news release and in any document referred to in this news
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The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any
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