The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - May 23, 2024
A recent pledge by global leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) to triple nuclear power generating capacity by 2050 has spurred new interest in uranium explorations.
With global leaders pledging to triple worldwide nuclear energy generating capacity by 2050 during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) and the United States banning the imports of uranium from Russia, companies are scouring the globe for this zero-carbon energy fuel. This search includes Panther Minerals Inc.'s upcoming exploration of the Boulder Creek project on Alaska's Seward Peninsula.
Located about 100 miles northeast of the Gold Rush town of Nome, Alaska, the 22,400-acre Boulder Creek project has long been known for its uranium potential.
The project was discovered by Houston Oil & Minerals, which completed 3,463 meters of drilling in 52 holes from 1979 to 1981.
According to a calculation completed in 1987, Boulder Creek hosts 1 million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U3O8) in a historical resource averaging 0.27% U308.
Despite already being the largest known deposit of uranium in Alaska, the historical resource represents only a small fraction of the overall potential along a roughly three-mile-wide corridor that extends for nearly 19 miles and is now covered by mining claims held by Panther.
The most recent exploration on this property was sampling radiometric geophysics, and 22 holes drilled by Triex Minerals from 2006 to 2008.
Hole DV06-54, which was drilled by Triex in the northern part of the deposit, cut six meters averaging 0.317% U3O8 from a depth of 23 meters, including a two-meter subsection averaging 0.867% U3O8.
Panther plans to carry out a detailed reassessment of the previous drilling data and apply modern geochemical and geophysical techniques to explore the wider potential across the portion of the "Death Valley" basin covered by its property.
This wider potential includes Fireweed, a uranium prospect about 12 miles northwest of the Boulder Creek deposit. Triex collected 21 samples ranging from 0.14 to 0.81% U308 along a 2,000-meter-long prospective area at Fireweed.
At the time, Triex said the extent and concentration of uranium in soils is significantly larger than Boulder, indicating this early staged prospect could contribute substantially to the overall quantities and grade of uranium with further exploration and the calculation of a modern, industry-compliant resource.
"By integrating historical data with contemporary exploration techniques, the company plans to advance the Boulder Creek project in an expeditious manner and keep shareholders and stakeholders updated," Panther Mineral President Rob Birmingham said earlier this month.
Now, the company reports that it has submitted applications with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office in Anchorage for drilling and other exploration on its federal claims at Boulder Creek.
"We are encouraged to have initiated the permit application process in a lead up to our first phase of exploration work on the property", said Birmingham.
Core Geoscience owner Jack DiMarchi is managing Panther's permitting in Alaska.
"The expertise of Jack will ensure we complete the correct protocols and advance to finalizing the permits in an expeditious manner," Birmingham added.
This includes coming permit applications for exploration on the state claims that make up the company's Boulder Creek project in western Alaska.
CORRECTION: Article was updated with new information on the U3O8 grade of the historical resource and to correct the distance between the Boulder Creek deposit and Fireweed prospect.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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