Russia takes aim at US nuclear power by throttling uranium
Limits creates potential supply risks to utilities operating American reactors that generate almost a fifth of the country’s electricity.
Fission Uranium Corp (CVE:FCU) jumped as much as 6% on Monday on massive volumes after announcing a fresh set of off-scale mineralization from the first five holes of its $12 million winter drilling program at its PLS property in Saskatchewan abutting the Athabasca Basin.
By early afternoon the Vancouver-based explorer retreated from its highs reached in morning trade to change hands at $1.23, up 3.4% on the Toronto venture board.
A whopping 5.1 million shares in the $385 million company had changed hands by 2:00 pm EST on Monday compared to the daily average volume of 1.3 million.
Thanks to a string of strong drill results showing mineralization at shallow depths from the Paterson Lake South property first identified in 2008, Fission has more than doubled in value over the past year and sparked a staking frenzy in the surrounding area.
Highlights of the latest set of drill results which is part of a 30,000 metre, 90-hole program, include hole PLS14-129, which returned a composited radioactive interval of 111.5 metres comprising of nine variably radioactive mineralized intervals ranging in width from 0.5 metres to 38.0 metres, starting at a downhole depth of 56 metres. This includes 36.7 metres of composited “off-scale” intervals of greater than 9999 counts per second radioactivity occurring in non-contiguous discrete intervals ranging from 0.5 metres to 9.5 metres wide.
This hole represents the widest intersection of composite mineralization and strongest off-scale scintillometre results so far encountered at the PLS property, exceeding readings derived from hole PLS13-175 by more than 50%, which assayed 54.5 metres grading 9.08% U3O8 including 21.5 metres grading 21.76% U3O8.
Other significant results from the latest set include hole PLS14-126, which intersected 64.5 metres of total composited mineralized intervals from a downhole depth of 131.0 metres to 374.0 metres.
Ross McElroy, President, COO, and Chief Geologist for Fission, said “Considering drill-hole PLS13-075 is on a level with the very best holes in the Athabasca Basin district, this is an incredible start to the winter program. Today’s results also narrow the gaps between the zones substantially… further evidence that the system consists of one very large zone.”
To put Fission’s drill results into perspective 1% uranium at $50 per pound is the equivalent of gold at 25.2 g/t, silver at 56 oz/t, copper at 15.4% and nickel at 8.2%. Fission has also intersected molybdenum, cobalt and gold at PLS. Gold has been mined as a byproduct in the past at a number of the uranium properties in the region.
Fission Uranium drills biggest hole recorded at PLS in Canada’s Athabasca Basin from Fission Uranium on Vimeo.
