Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSX VENTURE: PTU) is pleased to
provide the following overview of its current operations and
exploration plans for the coming year.
"As 2008 closed, the exploration industry's five year bull
market came to a hard stop, and Purepoint announced its decision to
dramatically reduce field work and conserve cash until signs of
improvement in the capital markets were apparent" said Chris
Frostad, President and CEO of Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. "Now, as
global economies begin to emerge from that severe recession,
Purepoint remains well positioned as a unique opportunity in
Canada's Athabasca Basin uranium region".
Corporate Highlights:
- Over a period of five years, during which the capital markets
were providing the lowest cost of capital the exploration industry
has seen in decades, Purepoint resolved to utilize its own capital
to advance its early stage projects while maintaining a 100%
ownership interest; deferring joint venture potential until higher
value could be empirically demonstrated. As a result of that
strategic decision Purepoint is now the only remaining public
exploration junior in the Basin actively advancing a portfolio of
100% owned, highly prospective uranium projects of proven
value;
- Purepoint continues to closely monitor exploration
developments in the Basin and has recently staked a new block of
promising properties within the Basin's primary mine trend;
- Joint venture discussions with more than a dozen Asian based
companies have recently resumed, companies which were forced to
suspend negotiations last year as global economies weakened;
- In anticipation of the pending Canada/India nuclear trade
agreement, new discussions with several large Indian companies have
recently commenced;
- Purepoint has now fully earned an initial 23% in its Smart
Lake joint venture with Cameco Corporation and can earn an
additional 27% by spending an additional $1.9 million by March 31,
2013;
- Purepoint has now fully earned an initial 20% in its Hook Lake
joint venture with Cameco Corporation and Areva Resources Canada
Ltd. and can earn an additional 30% by spending an additional $4.3
million by March 31, 2013;
- At the close of its last fiscal quarter (June 30, 2009) the
company held a working capital balance in excess of $2.8
million.
Exploration Highlights:
- The company will resume drilling activities in the upcoming
winter season, focusing its efforts on three high priority
projects, Red Willow, Smart Lake and Turnor Lake.
- Re-logging of drill core at Purepoint's Red Willow project has
provided a more detailed interpretation of the mineralized
structures within the Osprey Zone (assaying as high as 3.03%
U3O8);
- At Purepoint's Smart Lake joint venture with Cameco a
radioactive structure, originally intersected by SMT08-01, was
successfully traced for 50 metres during the last drill program,
returned assays up to 0.19% U3O8 over 0.1 m, and is associated with
the graphitic "Shearwater Conductor" that has been outlined for
over 1.4 kilometers;
- The most recent drill programs at the company's Turnor Lake
project continued to show that anomalous uranium mineralization is
spatially associated with the unconformity throughout the property.
As previously reported, last year's single drill hole into the
Serin Lake Zone intersected an interpreted uplifted block of
basement rocks, an important feature associated with many
high-grade uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin.
- Purepoint was fortunate to have recently staked an additional
723 hectares in close proximity to its Henday Lake project. The
entire Henday Block now covers 1,752 hectares within the Athabasca
Basin's eastern uranium mine trend and is situated less than ten
kilometers from both Hathor's recently discovered Roughrider Zone
and Denison's Midwest uranium deposit.
Red Willow Project
Last year, a 37-hole diamond drill program totaling 7,160 metres
was completed on the Red Willow Property, a large property
containing more than 22 targets, each identified by multiple
indicia of Basin type deposits. This drill program successfully
followed up the 2007 Osprey Zone discovery, discovered two
additional radioactive structures within the Long Lake area, and
demonstrated the favourable prospectivity of the Radon Lake area
(see announcement dated June 11, 2008).
Drilling of the Osprey Zone intersected a structure averaging
0.58% U3O8 over 1.0 metre (RW-19) that included an interval
assaying 3.03% U3O8 over 0.1 metres. The RW-19 intercept is located
approximately 80 metres north from the Osprey zone discovery hole
RW-07, which returned 0.20% eU3O8 over 5.8 metres in 2007. Hole
RW-13 returned 0.27% U3O8 over 1.2 metres that represents a 20
metre step-out south of RW-07. The 2008 Osprey drilling results
indicate that significant uranium intercepts are related to a 40 -
50 metre wide pyritic/graphitic shear zone. The prospective shear
zone remains unexplored to depth and along most of its strike
length.
First pass drilling within the Long Lake area intersected a 1.6
metre radioactive structure in LL08-05 (including 269 ppm U over
0.5 m) and two narrow mineralized structures in LL08-07 (611 ppm U
and 237 ppm U over 0.1 and 0.2 m, respectively). Two of three
eastern electromagnetic conductors drill-tested in 2008 at Long
Lake are now known to reflect altered, graphitic rocks. These two
target areas represent 8.7 kilometers of prospective EM
conductors.
At Radon Lake, the VTEM conductor trending southwest from the
lake was explored systematically. Graphitic units were intersected
and anomalous uranium results were returned from RAD-08-01,
RAD-08-02, RAD-08-05, RAD-08-06 and RAD-08-09. Drill hole RAD08-09
provided the best uranium assay at Radon Lake returning 283 ppm U
over 1.1 metres between 106.1 and 107.2 metres. Favourable
alteration, including strong chlorite and hematization, was
intersected in most holes. Spring conditions prevented drill
testing the northern extension of the EM conductor.
The most recent drill program at Red Willow highlighted this
property's uranium potential by returning anomalous uranium
concentrations from all three areas drilled. Each of these areas
require further drilling to evaluate their potential while numerous
prospective geophysical targets have yet to be tested by diamond
drilling.
Smart Lake Project
The Smart Lake property is situated in the southwestern portion
of the Athabasca Basin, approximately 60 km south of the former
Cluff Lake mine. Depth to the unconformity is shallow, at zero to
350 metres. Aeromagnetic and electromagnetic patterns at Smart Lake
reflect an extension of the unique patterns underlying the Shea
Creek deposits (max. grade of 58.3% U3O8 over 3.5 m) just 55 km
north of the property. Recent exploration by Purepoint and Cameco
has firmly established the presence and location of a number of
basement electromagnetic conductors never drill tested.
Previously reported drill hole SMT08-01 (see announcement dated
November 4, 2008) intersected a major structure between 222.5 and
276.5 m (true width estimated at 20 m) that displayed intense clay
alteration, silicification and hematization. The weak radioactive
structure was brecciated and healed with an overprinting of
alteration styles suggesting multiple episodes of alteration. Three
holes were drilled to follow-up the favourable SMT08-01 structure
and successfully intersected it 50 metres along strike. Drill hole
SMT08-05 intersected the radioactive fault between 150.1 and 154.2
m and returned up to 0.22% eU3O8 over 0.2 m. SMT08-06 returned
0.19% U3O8 over 0.1 m from a tension fracture associated with the
SMT08-05 radioactive fault.
The newly discovered radioactive structure at Smart Lake is
associated with graphite and the Shearwater conductor which will
aid ongoing exploration. The Shearwater conductor has been outlined
over 1.0 kilometer by a ground EM survey and over 1.4 kilometers by
an airborne EM survey.
Turnor Lake Project
Situated in the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin, the 100%
owned Turnor Lake Project includes five claims with a total area of
9,705 hectares. Depth to the unconformity is shallow at
approximately 180 metres.
The property covers known graphitic conductors that are
associated with uranium showings on adjoining properties, namely
Cameco's La Rocque showing (33.9% U3O8 over 5.5 m) to the west and
Areva's HLH-50 intercept (5.2% U3O8 over 0.38 m) located to the
south. The project lies in close proximity to several uranium
deposits including Midwest Lake, McClean Lake, Eagle Point, and
Collins Bay.
In light of the favourable results returned throughout the life
of this project, all conductors on the property continue to warrant
further diamond drill testing, specifically those conductors within
the Laysan and Serin target zones. Further drilling is required in
the area between drill holes TL-30 and TL-31 and in the vicinity of
TL-28, which returned results showing extensive clay alteration of
the sandstone. Follow-up holes to further test the areas of
anomalous halo mineralization are warranted including the vicinity
of TL-39. Drilling will also be conducted to determine the source
of the radon anomaly detected in the vicinity of drill holes TL-41
and -42.
Henday Block
Purepoint's 100% owned Henday Block is situate within ten
kilometers of both Hathor's recently discovered Roughrider Zone and
the Midwest uranium deposit owned by Denison Mines Corp., AREVA
Resources Canada Inc. and OURD.
The Henday Lake property falls within the Mudjatik-Wollaston
Tectonic Zone, a northeast trending structural zone along the
eastern margin of the Basin. Over 95% of known Canadian uranium
deposits, and all operating uranium mines in Canada, are located on
this trend. The Mudjatik-Wollaston Tectonic Zone is the NE trending
high strain tectonic zone marking the boundary between the Archean
gneisses and granitoids of the Mudjatik Domain to the west and
Archean gneisses, metasediments, and pegmatite intrusions of the
Wollaston domain to the east.
The Henday Block is 1,752 hectares in size, three times the size
of Hathor's nearby Midwest Northeast Project, which hosts their
Roughrider Zone. Only one historic drill hole is known to have been
drilled on Purepoint's Henday property. That hole, drilled by
Cogema Resources in 1998, encountered a steeply dipping, strongly
graphitic fault gouge at the bottom of the hole.
Annual Option Grant
Purepoint is also announcing today that the company has approved
the issuance of a total of 1,280,000 options to certain of its
Board of Directors, management and staff pursuant to its stock
option plan. The options are exercisable at a price of $0.14, are
subject to agreed vesting schedules and expire in five years.
Under Purepoint's stock option plan there are at present
7,330,803 common shares reserved for issuance, of which only
4,560,000 shares are subject to outstanding option grants.
About Purepoint
Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. is focused on the precision
exploration of more than 55 defined target areas on its eight 100%
owned projects in the Canadian Athabasca Basin, and its two Basin
projects joint ventured with Cameco Corporation and AREVA Resources
Canada Inc. Established in the Basin well before the resurgence in
uranium, Purepoint is actively advancing this large portfolio of
multiple drill targets in the world's richest uranium region.
Scott Frostad BSc, MASc, PGeo, Purepoint's Vice President,
Exploration, is the Qualified Person responsible for technical
content of this release.
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Contacts: Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. Chris Frostad President
and CEO (416) 603-8368 www.purepoint.ca
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