UEX Corporation


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Beatty River ProjectShow printable version of 'Beatty River Project' in a New WindowEmail 'Beatty River Project' to a friend


Property Description and Location

The Beatty River Project ("Beatty River") consists of seven claims totaling 6,688 hectares (16,526 acres) located in the western Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan. Beatty River is situated approximately 40 kilometres south of the Shea Creek property.

At present, AREVA Resources Canada Inc. ("AREVA") owns a 50.71% interest and JCU owns a 49.29% interest in Beatty River. UEX Corporation ("UEX") entered into an agreement dated June 15, 2004 with JCU wherein JCU granted UEX an option to acquire a 25% interest in Beatty River. Under the agreement, UEX can earn a 25% interest in the Beatty River Project by funding $865,000 in exploration expenditures by December 31, 2010. As of December 31, 2008, UEX has contributed approximately $597,581 to these expenditures and anticipates meeting the requirements of the option agreement within the required time frame.

Geological Setting

The Beatty River property is situated south of the Carswell structure, a late Proterozoic, circular, probable meteorite impact structure. The project area is underlain by basement rocks which straddle the Clearwater and Lloyd Domains of the Western Craton in the western Canadian Shield. The Lloyd Domain comprises granitic gneiss with local pelitic gneiss units, the latter which are spatially associated with uranium mineralization on other projects in the area, such as Shea Creek and the Cluff Lake deposits. The Clearwater Domain comprises fine-grained, cumulative-layered leucogabbronorite and anorthosite which are concordantly interlayered with units of mafic garnetiferous tonalitic gneisses and heterogeneous felsic gneisses, and which are intruded by granites. The domain is characterized by a prominent regional magnetic, medium to high, broad north-northeast trending linear that is associated with a regional gravity low. Basement rocks of the Lloyd and Clearwater Domains on the Beatty River property are unconformably overlain by 250 to 350 metres of Athabasca Group sandstone, and in the southern parts of the property Devonian-age limestone and Cretaceous-age Mannville Group sediments comprised of coaly sandstone and siltstones.



Exploration Results

The Beatty River property was first staked in the late 1980s. Airborne geophysical surveys, including a GEOTEM survey in 1990, and several ground electromagnetic and magnetic surveys were subsequently carried out which highlighted a number of quality conductive units in basement rocks beneath the Athabasca sandstone. The Anne Lake conductive trend is the most prospective target found at Beatty River to date, with a strike length of approximately 10 kilometres. Prior to UEX's option on the project in 2004, only 21 widely spaced drill holes were completed on the property. Drill hole BR-21 displayed uraninite-coffinite mineralization in a fault gouge with values of 873 ppm uranium and associated anomalous nickel, copper, vanadium, and molybdenum values, the latter elements which are considered to be pathfinder elements for uranium deposits in the region.

Since 2004, five holes totaling 2,214 metres have been drilled on the property to follow up geophysical and geological targets. During the 2004 diamond drilling program, hole BR-22 intersected an important graphitic shear zone beneath the Athabasca sandstone, which is of similar character to those associated with uranium deposits in the region. The results of BR-22 led to a revised geological and geophysical interpretation, prompting a restaking program of four new claims in June 2004.

Although no uranium mineralization was intersected in four follow-up drill holes in 2005, all of the holes encountered zones of fractured, brecciated and/or desilicified sandstone. Weakly graphitic basement rocks were intersected in three of the holes; however, the quantity of graphite was insufficient to explain a previously outlined basement conductor. The holes all show anomalous geochemistry. In hole BR-25, elevated boron values and dravite observed in the silicified sandstone suggest the presence of hydrothermal alteration in close proximity to the large east-west structure in that area.

Geophysical surveys, including time-domain electromagnetic and DC Resistivity surveys, were carried out in 2006 and 2007 to better define the location of the conductor, faulting, and alteration at Beatty River. The DC Resistivity surveys successfully outlined resistivity lows that occur within the sandstones, which may indicate areas of alteration and faulting which could potentially be host to uranium mineralization.

Future Exploration

Several parallel conductive trends have been identified on the Beatty River property, including the prospective Anne Lake trend, which has a strike length of approximately 10 kilometres. In addition, alteration and structural disruption that warrant further exploration have been recognized from drilling in the area. Future follow-up drilling will target the conductor in close proximity to interpreted faults.