UEX Corporation (UEX:TSX) (“UEX” or the “Company”) is pleased to
announce the second tranche of assay results from the winter
drilling program on the Company’s 100% owned West Bear Property,
located in the eastern Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan.
In January, UEX commenced a $4.25 million 110-160 drill hole
program at West Bear with the objective of expanding the size of
the West Bear Cobalt-Nickel Deposit (the “Deposit”) by extending
cobalt mineralization along strike to the west.
To date, the Company has completed 110 holes of
this winter’s exploration program and drilled 9,780 metres.
Assay results have been received for thirty-six drill holes.
UEX announced assay results from the first five holes in the
Company’s news release dated February 7, 2019, available at
www.sedar.com or UEX’s website at www.uex-corporation.
Thirty of the 31 holes from the second batch of
assays returned composite grades that exceed the cobalt equivalent
(“CoEq”) grade of 0.023% CoEq, the same cut-off grade used in UEX’s
maiden resource estimate for the West Bear Cobalt-Nickel deposit
announced on July 10, 2018 available at www.sedar.com or UEX’s
website at www.uex-corporation.
While the Company has been expanding the West
Bear Cobalt-Nickel Deposit along strike to the west and in the area
below the existing West Bear Uranium Deposit (the “Uranium
Deposit”), UEX has also reviewed results from the sonic drill holes
that defined the Uranium Deposit during the 2005 and 2007
exploration campaigns. Of the 214 sonic holes drilled, 99
holes encountered cobalt and nickel mineralization exceeding 0.023%
CoEq within rock located below the Uranium Deposit and specifically
excluded from the volume of rock comprising the Uranium Deposit.
Twenty-six of these holes returned composite assay results
exceeding 0.25% CoEq of which 10 holes exceeded 0.5% CoEq.
Assay results specific to cobalt and nickel mineralization
occurring below the Uranium Deposit have never been announced by
the Company, as these results were recently compiled for the first
time.
Highlights from the current drill program
include hole WBC-047 which encountered widespread cobalt and nickel
averaging 0.05% Co and 0.16% Ni over 27.50 m from
27.50 m to 55.00 m, and hole WBC-070 which intersected
0.06% Co and 0.16% Ni over 11.00 m from 25.50 m to
36.50 m (see Tables 1 and 3).
Highlights from the review of the historic sonic
drilling programs included holes UEX-043 which intersected
0.815% Co and 1.357% Ni over 8.4 m from 23.60 m to
32.00 m (including a subinterval of 1.512% Co and 1.963% Ni
over 3.0 m from 29.00 m to 32.00 m), UEX-051 that averaged
0.416% Co and 2.197% Ni over 1.2 m from 23.30 m to
24.50 m, UEX-056 which assayed 0.425% Co and 1.362% Ni over
3.0 m from 24.80 m to 27.80 m and UEX-057 which
intersected 0.449% Co and 2.085% Ni over 3.1 m
from 22.90 m to 26.00 m (see Tables 2 and 4).
With the available results from the current
drilling program and a review of the historic sonic holes, the
strike length of the West Bear Deposit has been increased from 400
m to 550 m (see Figure 1) with the majority of assays from the 2019
program yet to be received.
UEX is encouraged by the results of the current
drilling program and by the surprising results from the sonic drill
program review.
The reader is cautioned that the results from
the sonic drill program can be difficult to interpret.
Technical limitations on the depth of penetration of sonic drill
rigs meant that in most cases drill holes were terminated prior to
being able to fully penetrate into and/or through the fault
structure that hosts the cobalt-nickel mineralization below the
Uranium Deposit. As a result, sonic holes were often
terminated in cobalt-nickel mineralization. In 2007, the
Company was focussed exclusively on defining the Uranium Deposit
and in many cases did not completely sample the rocks and fault
structures that host the cobalt and nickel mineralization
encountered below the Uranium Deposit. As a result, UEX
geologists will be reviewing the existing sonic drill holes and
extending sampling coverage to ensure that all possible extensions
to the West Bear Cobalt-Nickel Deposit are defined.
With the demand for electric vehicles increasing,
we see the need for ethically-sourced cobalt from safe mining and
geopolitical jurisdictions to power those cars. Our winter
drill results continue to grow our West Bear Cobalt-Nickel Deposit,
one of the few known North American cobalt deposits. The
Company is eagerly awaiting the assay results of the final holes of
the winter program.
- Roger Lemaitre, President & CEO
Sample Collection and
Compositing
Samples are selected using a portable X-Ray
Fluorescence (“XRF”) Spectrometer to aid in the identification of
mineralized intervals. Selected drill core is then split in
half sections on site and one half is collected for analysis with
the other half core remaining on site for reference. Where
possible, samples are collected at a standardized 0.5 m interval
through zones of mineralization but respect geological units and
intervals. Samples collected by UEX in 2005 and 2007 during
the sonic drilling programs did not use an XRF Spectrometer to aid
in identification of mineralization.
The samples were shipped to the Geoanalytical
Laboratory at the Saskatchewan Research Council (“SRC”) in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Analysis at the SRC laboratory for
Cobalt and Nickel was completed using the ICP-OES method with an
Aqua Regia digestion. The SRC Geoanalytical Laboratory is an
ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited facility (#537) by the Standards
Council of Canada.
Assay intervals were composited using a cut-off
grade of 0.023% Cobalt equivalent (CoEq) using the equation CoEq =
Co + (Ni x 0.2). All depth measurements and sample intervals
reported are down-hole measurements from drill core.
About the West Bear Cobalt-Nickel
Deposit
The West Bear Property is an advanced
exploration project located in the eastern Athabasca Basin of
northern Saskatchewan, Canada that contains both the West Bear
Cobalt-Nickel Deposit and the West Bear Uranium Deposit. The
Property is approximately 740 kilometres north of Saskatoon, west
of Wollaston Lake and measures approximately 7,983 hectares
comprising of 24 contiguous areas to which UEX has 100% ownership,
with the exception of Mineral Lease 5424 in which UEX owns a
77.575% interest. The Deposit is located within an area of
the Athabasca Basin that has excellent infrastructure and is
situated within 10 km of an existing all-weather road and power
lines that service Cameco Corporation’s nearby Cigar Lake Mine and
Rabbit Lake Operation, as well as Orano’s McClean Lake
Operation.
The West Bear Cobalt-Nickel Deposit currently
has a strike length of over 550 m and a dip length of over 100 m.
On July 10, 2018, the Company announced a maiden inferred resource
estimate for the Deposit of 390,000 tonnes grading 0.37% cobalt and
0.22% nickel, which equates to 3,172,000 pounds of cobalt
and 1,928,000 pounds of nickel. The West Bear
Cobalt-Nickel Deposit mineral resources were determined using a
cut-off grade of 0.023 percent cobalt equivalent (“CoEq”), using
the equation CoEq = Co + (Ni x 0.2). Only mineralization
located within a conceptual open pit was included in the final
resource estimate.
Qualified Persons and Data
Acquisition
The technical information in this news release
has been reviewed and approved by Roger Lemaitre, P.Eng., P.Geo.,
UEX’s President and CEO and Trevor Perkins, P.Geo., UEX’s
Exploration Manager, who are each considered to be a Qualified
Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About UEX
UEX (TSX:UEX, OTC:UEXCF.PK, UXO.F) is a Canadian
uranium exploration and development company involved in nineteen
uranium projects, including eight that are 100% owned and operated
by UEX, one joint venture with Orano Canada Inc. (“Orano”) and ALX
Uranium Corp. (“ALX”) that is 50.1% owned by UEX and is under
option to and operated by ALX, as well as eight joint ventures with
Orano, one joint venture with Orano and JCU (Canada) Exploration
Company Limited, which are operated by Orano, and one project
(Christie Lake), that is 60% owned by UEX with JCU (Canada)
Exploration Company Limited which is operated by UEX.
The company is also involved in one
cobalt-nickel exploration project located in the Athabasca Basin of
northern Saskatchewan. The West Bear Project was formerly
part of UEX’s Hidden Bay Project and contains the West Bear
Cobalt-Nickel Deposit and the West Bear Uranium Deposit.
The nineteen projects are located in the
eastern, western and northern perimeters of the Athabasca Basin,
the world's richest uranium belt, which in 2017 accounted for
approximately 22% of the global primary uranium production.
UEX is currently advancing several uranium deposits in the
Athabasca Basin which include the Christie Lake deposits, the
Kianna, Anne, Colette and 58B deposits at its currently 49.1%-owned
Shea Creek Project (located 50 km north of Fission’s Triple R
Deposit and Patterson Lake South Project, and NexGen’s Arrow
Deposit) the Horseshoe and Raven deposits located on its 100%-owned
Horseshoe-Raven Development Project and the West Bear Uranium
Deposit located at its 100%-owned West Bear Project.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE
CONTACT
Roger LemaitrePresident & CEO(306)
713-1401
Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains statements that
constitute "forward-looking information" for the purposes of
Canadian securities laws. Such statements are based on UEX's
current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. Such
forward-looking information includes statements regarding the West
Bear Co-Ni Deposit drill program, UEX's drill hole results,
uranium, cobalt and nickel prices, outlook for our future
operations, plans and timing for exploration activities, and other
expectations, intentions and plans that are not historical fact.
Such forward-looking information is based on certain factors and
assumptions and is subject to risks, uncertainties and other
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking
information. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from UEX's expectations include uncertainties
relating to the, interpretation of drill results and geology, assay
confirmation, additional drilling results, continuity and grade of
deposits, fluctuations in uranium, cobalt and nickel prices and
currency exchange rates, changes in environmental and other laws
affecting uranium, cobalt and nickel exploration and mining, and
other risks and uncertainties disclosed in UEX's Annual Information
Form and other filings with the applicable Canadian securities
commissions on SEDAR. Many of these factors are beyond the control
of UEX. Consequently, all forward-looking information contained in
this news release is qualified by this cautionary statement and
there can be no assurance that actual results or developments
anticipated by UEX will be realized. For the reasons set forth
above, investors should not place undue reliance on such
forward-looking information. Except as required by applicable law,
UEX disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Photos accompanying this announcement are
available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/44c77f8d-6d0a-4ba5-90ef-4d95b56dad8e
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f029bf25-186a-4002-a57e-7f1b50a08b0d
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8d7ab5fc-a28f-48e7-bc42-1d57285bab2f
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/31ff2dd3-2064-4ab2-8adc-fd540042a1ce
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c8a37ea6-4c52-431a-a2b1-6ed3a7afd3d1
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