The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News – May 31, 2024
Rising global demand for nuclear energy is driving a surge in exploration of projects with the potential to produce yellowcake, a concentrate used in the preparation of uranium fuel for nuclear reactors.
The Tatiggaq uranium deposit on Forum Energy's Aberdeen project in Nunavut's Thelon Basin is within a large gravity anomaly that remains open along strike for 1,500 and at depth.
As the transition to carbon-free and renewable energy gains momentum, worldwide demand for nuclear power is increasing and with it has come a surge in uranium mining.
2023 was a banner year for uranium, as it outperformed most commodities. This year could bring more of the same, according to analysts at Bank of America. Though uranium prices have decreased since the beginning of the year, analysts forecast a bull market through 2025.
Uranium benefits from several demand drivers, including a return to nuclear power as well as the evolution of technology surrounding nuclear power, Joe Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management told a reporter recently.
"Because it doesn't generate greenhouse gases inherently, it proves a strong complement to renewable energy. Nuclear power provides baseload energy for electrical grids that incorporate renewable energies. Solar, wind, and other renewable sources do not provide consistent energy, creating a need for always-available power that nuclear provides. "
Alongside growing nuclear demand exists the deficit for traditional energy sources used to power electric grids currently.
"When there's a supply and demand imbalance, typically you have a price that adjusts to incentivize more production," Ciampaglia observed, adding that it is "what the world needs in the coming decade, and that's exactly what's happening with uranium and why it went up 89% last year."
Several juniors have responded to this forecast of greater demand for the mineral by acquiring uranium properties in Nunavut's highly prospective Thelon Basin or by executing plans for exploration programs in 2024. Among this group are Forum Energy Metals Corp., Inspiration Energy Corp., and Terra Uranium.
Armed with new drill targets derived from survey work in 2023, Forum Energy is returning to its 95,500-hectare (236,000 acres) Aberdeen uranium project this year with plans to complete a 10,000-meter drill program. The project is adjacent to Orano's 133-million-pound Kiggavik uranium deposit in the Thelon Basin of Nunavut. Kiggavik is one of the largest uranium resources in Canada
The Thelon Basin covers more than 1.2 million hectares (2.9 million acres, or about half the area of New Jersey) and is a proven, underexplored uranium jurisdiction with Athabasca Basin-style potential for large, high-grade uranium discoveries.
Forum Energy reviewed initial data processed from an ambient noise tomography (ANT) survey conducted over the high-grade Tatiggaq anomaly last summer. The survey successfully established new drill targets over a more than 1,000-meter eastern extension along the Tatiggaq fault zone, which hosts the high-grade Tatiggaq uranium discovery at Aberdeen.
"The ANT survey may be a game-changing geophysical method for targeting unconformity systems in the northeast Thelon Basin," said Rebecca Hunter, Forum's vice president of exploration. "Measuring the velocity change interfaces throughout our anomalies, we can potentially image the faults that host the mineralization and the location of the mineralized bodies themselves.
"The survey results obtained suggest we will be able to target our drilling with a much higher degree of precision than what could be done in the past. I am very excited to resume (work) on our Aberdeen Project in 2024," Hunter added.
In late May, Forum reported the start of construction of a 30-person drill camp on the Aberdeen property to support a 10,000-meter drill program by mid-June.
The Tatiggaq uranium deposit on Forum Energy's Aberdeen project in Nunavut's Thelon Basin is within a large gravity anomaly that remains open along strike for 1,500 and at depth.
Follow-up drilling this year will focus on building a resource identified by four holes drilled over a 200-meter strike length into the Tatiggaq deposit in 2023, which intersected up to 2.25% triuranium octoxide (U3O8) over 11.1 meters.
The structure hosting uranium mineralization at Tatiggaq extends for 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) within a highly altered uranium mineralized system.
"Forum's geological team is evaluating the recent ambient noise tomography results to establish initial targets for the June drill program," Hunter said.
Earlier this year, Inspiration Energy entered into an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Maraschino uranium project in the Thelon Basin. Maraschino of eight mineral licenses covering 113 square kilometers (43.6 square miles) over six uranium prospects.
"We are very excited to announce the acquisition of this aggressive uranium land package in the renowned Thelon Basin in Nunavut," said Inspiration Energy President and CEO Charles Desjardins in announcing the move.
"We believe that uranium is in the early stages of a secular bull market – our corporate structure and management experience in uranium makes this an acquisition which we feel will be beneficial to all of our stakeholders," he added.
The six prospects in the Maraschino Project include two flagship and four pipeline targets, all possessing compelling exploration opportunities, according to Inspiration Energy.
The region's first uranium showing was discovered in 1974 within the Baker Lake area in the Thelon Basin, which sparked exploration activity in the area. A second rush of exploration occurred between 2000 and 2010 and saw regional work, hunting for unconformity-type uranium deposits like those discovered in the Athabasca Basin.
Roughly 160 million pounds of uranium has been defined in the Thelon Basin to date.
In March, Terra Uranium (T92) entered a binding letter of intent to acquire the Amer Lake uranium deposit in Nunavut, marking a significant expansion in its mineral exploration activities.
Amer Lake hosts an estimated resource of 17.83 million metric tons, averaging 380 parts per million U3O8.
The deposit's assay values from mineralized arkose horizons suggest high-grade uranium presence, with typical values ranging from 5,000 ppm to 15,000 ppm U3O8 over 0.2-meter thicknesses.
Uranium-bearing minerals at the site include uraninite, brannerite, and a secondary phase, uranophane.
Sandstone-hosted mineralization at Amer Lake is akin to other large near-surface deposits found globally, making it suitable for bulk or in-situ recovery mining methods, the company said.
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