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The action is heating up in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin with one of the major exploration players in the region, Skyharbour Resources (TSXV:SYH), announcing last week that its option partner Azincourt Uranium (TSXV:AAZ) will be starting a new exploration this summer.
The program will be designed to test previously untested drill targets at the East Preston Uranium Project – one of five properties being explored by Vancouver-based Skyharbour, which has a current market capitalization of $23.59 million.
Home to Cameco’s (TSX:CCO) McArthur River uranium mine, the Athabasca Basin is considered one of the richest sources of uranium in the world, with many uranium deposits hosting grades substantially higher than the world average grade of under .2% uranium oxide (U3O8).
The area has been a hotbed for energy metal investors over the past few years, due to significant discoveries, including the Arrow discovery by NexGen Energy (TSXV:NXE), Fission Uranium’s (TSX:FCU) Triple R, and Cameco, Areva and Purepoint Uranium’s joint-venture (TSXV:PTU) Hook Lake Spitfire Zone high-grade discovery.
Last Wednesday’s announcement concerns the identification of targets in the Swoosh corridor of East Preston, which has seen over $2 million in exploration expenditures to date, and $4.7 million for the entire Preston project, according to Skyharbour. The work has has consisted of ground gravity, airborne and ground electromagnetics, radon, soil, silt, biogeochem, lake sediment and geological mapping surveys, as well as two exploratory drill programs.
The program follows up on a March 28 announcement that Skyharbour and clean-tech company Clean Commodities (TSXV:CLE) teamed up for an option agreement, whereby Azincourt will earn the right to own up to 70% of the property, in exchange for issuing 4.5 million shares plus cash for a total consideration of CAD$3.5 million.
An earlier $8 million option agreement on the property was signed with AREVA Resources Canada, a subsidiary of French nuclear giant AREVA and operator of the McLean Lake Mill. Together the two option agreements total $9.8 million in exploration expenditures over six years.
Skyharbour says the Preston project is located near recent high-grade discoveries in the Patterson Lake area including NexGen Energy’s Arrow deposit, Fission Uranium’s Triple R deposit, and the Spitfire discovery. The property comprises 34 contiguous mineral claim totaling 121,148 hectares according to a 2016 NI 43-101 report.
Skyharbour’s stock hit 52 cents a share, compared to a 52-week high of 70 cents reached in February, on the same day as the news release, last Wednesday. It fell 7.55% to 49 cents a share on Friday. Azincourt Uranium hit its 52-week high of 10.5 cents a share on Friday – a gain of 16.67%.
