31 March 2022
Power Metal Resources PLC
("Power Metal" or the "Company")
Soaring Bay Uranium Property - Canada
Highlights of Historical Data Compilation Over the Soaring Bay Uranium Property south of the Athabasca Basin; Further Prospective Land Staked.
Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW), the London listed exploration company seeking large-scale metal discoveries across its global project portfolio, announces an update on its Soaring Bay Uranium Property ("Soaring Bay" or the "Property"). Soaring Bay is part of the larger uranium portfolio that includes seven 100% owned interests (Table 1) now covering an area of 450.01km2 (45,001 hectares) located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada.
Highlights Include:
· Soaring Bay footprint increased by 71% to 79.07km2 following additional staking of adjacent uranium-prospective ground.
· Anomalous Radon-222 soil gas results identified over 700m in strike length extending into new staked ground.
· Historical review has identified multiple occurrences of radioactive pegmatites with scintillometer results up to 15,000 counts per second ("CPS").
· Increased area also includes two highly anomalous U-in-lake results, underlining the properties' general prospectivity.
· Government data records four uranium occurrences on the Property with results returning 0.11 - 0.8% Uranium ("U").
A map highlighting results from the historical data compilation completed over the Soaring Bay Property, and further prospective ground recently staked can be found below at the following link:
https://www.powermetalresources.com/soaring-bay-property-overview/
Soaring Bay Uranium Property Overview
- The Soaring Bay Property is located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, approximately 100 km south of the Athabasca Basin. Saskatchewan ranked third in the most recent 2020 Fraser Institute Investment Attractiveness Index rankings of global mining jurisdictions.1 Following a review of the historical information compiled by Power Metal, further prospectivity outside of the Property claim boundary was identified and as a result, an extra 32.77km2 (3,277-hectares) has been staked bringing the Property's total land holding to 79.07km2 (7,907-hectares).
- Historical work on the Property, collated by Power Metal, has identified anomalous Radon-222 results located along a prominent 700m long structural lineament, multiple anomalous and generally elevated U-in-lake sediment results, and highly elevated scintillometer results (up to 15,000 CPS) from multiple outcrop occurrences. The licence area of Soaring Bay was extended to capitalise on these various features, further increasing overall prospectivity. Radon-222 (222Rn) is a naturally occurring radioactive gas.
- The Property is centred around four Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index ("SMDI") uranium occurrences which were discovered during historical small-scale excavations on the Property. Samples of up to 0.92 % U3O8 (0.8% U) were recovered from historical trenches. In addition, two SMDI copper occurrences are present within the Property.
- The Soaring Bay Uranium Property is considered prospective for intrusive and pegmatite-hosted uranium mineralisation, and, although being largely untested, rare-earth element mineralisation.
Paul Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Power Metal Resources plc, commented:
"Work on our uranium interests has accelerated with further support in-house to take this important area of our business forward.
We have seven properties surrounding the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan Canada and, following technical review of our data compilation, the Soaring Bay Uranium Property has delivered an exciting set of results.
The 12km structural feature identified, with anomalous soil gas Radon is a great find. This included 700m of anomalous readings some of which fell outside of the Property footprint. Fortunately, we were able to secure the additional ground, which remained un-staked, to cover this highly anomalous area in full.
Work continues at pace on our Athabasca uranium interests and further updates are expected in the near future."
FURTHER TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Power Metal recently completed an in-depth historical data compilation across its entire uranium Portfolio surrounding the prolific Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, and now possesses a robust fully-digitised database covering all historical work programmes completed across the various Properties, including the Soaring Bay Uranium Property.
A total of 5 historical reports were digitised from work programmes covering at least some part of the Soaring Bay. These date from 1970-1980 and include ground exploration, trenching and lake sediment sampling, with no exploration occurring within the last 40 years.
Soaring Bay Compilation Highlights
- Anomalous Radon-222 soil gas readings ranging between 33 and 244 CPS (area background average: ~1-2 CPS) located along a prominent 12km long northwest-southeast oriented fault. including highlight results of 70, 85 and 244 CPS, representing 96th percentile compared to other structural features analysed locally.2 The anomalous results (>96th percentile) extend for a combined 700m along the 12 km long structural feature; the expanded licence has increased Power Metal's holding of this structural feature from 1.6 km to 5.6 km.
- Radon-222 anomalies can be an important indicator for uranium mineralisation as Radon-222 is a daughter product of the uranium-235 decay chain. As a naturally occurring radioactive gas it can migrate to the surface and concentrate within faults, providing a possible vector towards sites of uranium mineralisation. Due to Radon-222's short half-life (3.8 days) occurrences of strong radon anomalism commonly suggest a local source to the causative uranium mineralisation. The 3276.8-hectare extension staked by Power Metal encompasses the entire 12 km long fault and all reported anomalous elevated Radon-222 soil gas results are concentrated over the 700m strike length.
- The Property covers four Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) lake sediment results. With respect to regional data, all are elevated (>80th percentile), and two are considered highly anomalous 37 ppm (98.5th percentile) and 69 ppm U (99.5th percentile). These two anomalous values were covered by the new staking, further underlining the prospectivity of the expanded licences.
- Historical geological mapping, trenching and prospecting has highlighted the presence of multiple radioactive outcrop occurrences over the Property. In the southwest, a pegmatite returned a reading of up to 7,000 CPS, with other occurrences of 5,000 CPS located within close proximity.2 In the west of the Property, an isolated pegmatite yielded values of up to 15,000 CPS 2, which was acquired through the 3,276.8-hectare extension staked by Power Metal. In addition, the SMDI records four uranium occurrences on the Property with results ranging from 1,500 to 10,000 CPS, and 0.14 to 0.92 % U3O8 (0.11 - 0.8% U).3 Previous work has also suggested that the pegmatite occurrences may also be prospective for rare-earth element (REE) and molybdenum (Mo) in addition to uranium mineralisation.2
- A historical airborne radiometric survey identified several elevated radiometric readings (between 400 and 900 CPS) across the Property.2 These anomalies are coincident with the identified 12km long structural feature and the four previously identified SMDI uranium occurrences.
Uranium Property Holding Structure
Power Metal has a 100% subsidiary Power Metal Canada Inc ("Power Canada"), which acts as the holding Company for certain Canadian project operations. Power Canada has a wholly-owned subsidiary, 102134984 Saskatchewan Ltd, which is the holder of the Company's Saskatchewan uranium portfolio.
Table 1: 102134984 Saskatchewan Ltd., Athabasca Basin Property Holdings*
Project |
Licence ID |
Area (Hectare) |
Clearwater Uranium Property |
MC00015079 |
1,110 |
MC00015083 |
563 |
|
MC00015082 |
3,191 |
|
MC00015151 |
760 |
|
MC00015646 |
761 |
|
MC00015658 |
1,541 |
|
Tait Hill Uranium Property |
MC00015078 |
1,576 |
MC00015081 |
968 |
|
MC00015153 |
1,530 |
|
MC00015152 |
1,886 |
|
MC00015647 |
725 |
|
MC00015648 |
1,129 |
|
Thibaut Lake Uranium Property |
MC00015077 |
2,206 |
MC00015659 |
2,195 |
|
Soaring Bay Uranium Property |
MC00015080 |
1,255 |
MC00015155 |
3,375 |
|
MC00015874 |
748 |
|
MC00015875 |
2,529 |
|
Cook Lake Uranium Property |
MC00015212 |
984 |
E-12 Uranium Property |
MC00015213 |
1,323 |
Reitenbach Uranium Property |
MC00015214 |
2,135 |
MC00015474 |
1,235 |
|
MC00015655 |
4,570 |
|
MC00015656 |
5,322 |
|
MC00015657 |
856 |
|
MC00015824 |
528 |
|
Total Licence Holding Area |
45,001 |
*Bold text refers to ground acquired since the most recent acquisition and expansions announced by the Company on 24 March 2022
GLOSSARY
Counts Per Second: Measurement of the amount of ionising radiation. with each 'Count' being ionising radiation entering a Scintillometer. Higher readings are generally indicative of radioactive material within the sample being tested. Natural background radiation varies depending on regional geology, or other radioactive sources, but is typically between 2 - 10 CPS.
Reference Notes:
1 https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/annual-survey-of-mining-companies-2020.pdf
2 Sawyer D.A. (Great Plains Development Company of Canada Ltd) Marling Oil Corporation): Compilation of Field Investigation on G.P. #10 (74EB03-0001)
3 https://applications.saskatchewan.ca/mineral-deposit-index
COMPETENT PERSON STATEMENT
The technical information contained in this disclosure has been read and approved by Mr Nick O'Reilly (MSc, DIC, MIMMM, MAusIMM, FGS), who is a qualified geologist and acts as the Competent Person under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr O'Reilly is a Principal consultant working for Mining Analyst Consulting Ltd which has been retained by Power Metal Resources PLC to provide technical support.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
For further information please visit https://www.powermetalresources.com/ or contact:
Power Metal Resources plc |
|
Paul Johnson (Chief Executive Officer) |
+44 (0) 7766 465 617 |
|
|
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nomad and Joint Broker) |
|
Ewan Leggat/Charlie Bouverat |
+44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
|
|
SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker) |
|
Nick Emerson |
+44 (0) 1483 413 500 |
|
|
First Equity Limited (Joint Broker) |
|
David Cockbill/Jason Robertson |
+44 (0) 20 7330 1883 |
|
NOTES TO EDITORS
Power Metal Resources plc - Background
Power Metal Resources plc (LON:POW) is an AIM listed metals exploration company which finances and manages global resource projects and is seeking large scale metal discoveries.
The Company has a principal focus on opportunities offering district scale potential across a global portfolio including precious, base and strategic metal exploration in North America, Africa and Australia.
Project interests range from early-stage greenfield exploration to later-stage prospects currently subject to drill programmes.
Power Metal will develop projects internally or through strategic joint ventures until a project becomes ready for disposal through outright sale or separate listing on a recognised stock exchange thereby crystallising the value generated from our internal exploration and development work.
Value generated through disposals will be deployed internally to drive the Company's growth or may be returned to shareholders through share buy backs, dividends or in-specie distributions of assets.
Power Metal Exploration Programmes Underway/Results Awaited
Power Metal has exploration programmes completed or underway, with results awaited, as outlined below:
Project |
Location |
POW % |
Work Completed or Underway |
Results Awaited |
|
|
|
|
|
Alamo Gold Project |
USA |
Earn-in to 75% |
Excavation of multiple test pits and mapping & sampling. |
Field and assay results from on-site work programme. |
Athabasca Uranium |
Canada |
100% |
Data compilation across uranium properties |
Interpretation results from 2 of 7 properties. |
Authier North Lithium |
Canada |
Earn-in to 100% |
Soil & rock sampling completed |
Technical Review of exploration results & define next exploration steps. |
Ditau Project |
Botswana |
50% |
Drill programme focused on key targets notably drilling of potential carbonatites and targeting rare-earth elements. |
Field updates and receipt & review of laboratory assay results. |
Kalahari Copper Belt |
Botswana |
50% |
Exploration programme underway across the South Ghanzi Project and further exploration at the more recently acquired South Ghanzi Extension and Mamuno licence areas |
Field programme findings and defined drill targets for near term drilling. |
Molopo Farms |
Botswana |
53% |
Review of recent exploration findings. |
Determine next exploration steps and action plan. |
Tati Gold/Nickel |
Botswana |
100% |
Reverse circulation drill programme completed |
Receipt & review of laboratory assay results. |
Haneti Project |
Tanzania |
35% |
Diamond drill programme completed |
Receipt & review of laboratory assay results. |
Victoria Goldfields |
Australia |
49.9% |
Diamond drill programme underway
|
Field updates and receipt & review of laboratory assay results. |
Paterson Projects |
Australia |
83.33% |
Wallal passive seismic and 2D seismic processing work programme completed. Review of historical data and target generation for Ripon Hills & Braeside West projects.
|
Findings from multiple work programmes including final approvals and preparations for planned deep diamond drilling. |
Selta Project |
Australia |
83.33% |
Field reconnaissance work now underway, including mapping and sampling. |
Field updates. |