Fission Uranium Corp TSX:FCU is a Canadian uranium project developer and 100% owner of the Patterson Lake South uranium property – a proposed high-grade uranium mine and mill in Canada’s Athabasca Basin region.
We last caught up with the management team about a year ago. You can read about our first impressions of the company here.
Fission Uranium has now announced that preparations are underway for a two-prong drill program at its award-winning PLS high-grade uranium project with concurrent regional exploration as well as deposit upgrading. A 15-hole (~6,650m) regional drill program will follow up on the highest priority target areas identified during the recent winter exploration program.
Approximately 80% of the 31,039 ha property, which is five times the size of Manhattan Island, remains unexplored.
Fission Uranium said a 19-hole (~5,830m) program will focus on in-fill drilling the R1515W high-grade zone with the primary goal of upgrading the resource classification of the majority of the zone’s Inferred Resources to Indicated for inclusion of the R1515W in the current mine plan. Drilling is expected to commence in early May.
Ross McElroy , President, and CEO for Fission Uranium, explained further: “We have two concurrent drill programs at PLS commencing next month. The first will be further regional exploration following up on our very encouraging winter drill results which identified four particularly high priority areas. The second program will focus on upgrading sections of the R1515W high-grade zone with the goal bringing it into the Triple R mine plan and schedule. By doing so, we have the clear potential to further increase our mine reserves and mine life.”
A total of 15 holes have been completed on six separate target areas. The target areas were located along strike to the east (East Extension) and to the west (Bridle & Saddle) of the company’s existing Triple R deposit as well as parallel shear structures located to the north (Holster and Pistol) as well as to the south (Saloon) of Triple R.
Fission has published a feasibility study outlining the potential for the Triple R to become one of the lowest cost uranium mines in the world and has also submitted its draft EIS to the regulators. The company says it is on schedule to continue developing PLS through the permitting and licensing phase and on to construction and production by 2029.
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Highly prospective for uranium
Drilling encountered highly prospective features considered essential to the presence of high-grade uranium mineralization such as favorable lithology, large-scale hydrothermal alteration, graphitic shear zones and in some cases elevated radioactivity on the various target areas.
Management feels this is an extremely encouraging start to the renewed exploration activity at PLS. With anomalous radioactivity in multiple holes, they are very excited to have a number of high-priority target areas identified for follow up drilling.
“I particularly want to highlight the fact that these results are from regional exploration drilling,” said McElroy. “While our Triple R deposit continues to advance towards production on time and on schedule, we believe the PLS project has a lot more to give, and these drill results speak clearly to that potential.”
The January 2023 feasibility study outlined reserves of 93.7m lbs U3O8 at an average grade of 1.41% U3O8, and production costs of 9.65 USD per pound of uranium.
Saskatchewan offers prime geological conditions for uranium mining, supported by superior infrastructure and favorable mining regulations. Fission Uranium’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) needs approval from the provincial authorities, but it does not necessitate undergoing a distinct Federal approval process.