Hidden Bay Project 
Hidden Bay Property Overview
UEX Corporation's ("UEX") 100% owned Hidden Bay property is in the eastern Athabasca uranium district, adjacent to, and surrounding several current and past producing uranium deposits on the Rabbit Lake property of Cameco Corporation ("Cameco"), and the McClean Lake property operated by AREVA Resources Canada Inc. ("AREVA").
The Hidden Bay property is accessible year round by Highway 905, a maintained all weather gravel road, and by maintained access and mine roads to the Rabbit Lake and McClean Lake mining operations, which pass through the property. Infrastructure is well developed in the local area, with two operating uranium ore processing facilities, Rabbit Lake operated by Cameco, and McClean Lake, operated by AREVA, located 4 km northeast and 22 km northwest of the Horseshoe-Raven deposits, respectively. The principal hydroelectric transmission lines that service both of these facilities also pass 3 km to the north of the deposits.
Uranium Deposits
Hidden Bay is host to three uranium deposits which have recently estimated N.I. 43-101 compliant resources: Horseshoe, Raven and West Bear. These deposits are of the unconformity type: West Bear is a classic unconformity hosted deposit at very shallow depths, while Horseshoe and Raven are a basement hosted variety of the unconformity type. At a cut-off grade of 0.02% U3O8, global N.I. 43-101 compliant Indicated resources on the Hidden Bay property now stand at 41.62 million pounds U3O8, with a further 3.47 million pounds of U3O8 in the Inferred category. The breakdown of current N.I. 43-101 compliant resources, which are supported by a technical report by K. Palmer, P.Geo. of Golder Associates Ltd. ("Golder") dated September 4, 2009 and available on SEDAR, is as follows:
September 2009 N.I. 43-101 Compliant Indicated Mineral Resources on the Hidden Bay Property
at a Cut-off Grade of 0.05% U3O8
Deposit |
Tonnes |
U3O8 (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
Horseshoe |
5,119,700 |
0.203 |
22,895,000 |
Raven |
5,173,900 |
0.107 |
12,149,000 |
West Bear |
78,914 |
0.908 |
1,578,500 |
Totals |
10,372,514 |
0.161 |
36,622,500 |
September 2009 N.I. 43-101 Compliant Inferred Mineral Resources on the Hidden Bay Property
at a Cut-off Grade of 0.05% U3O8
(There are no Inferred resources for the West Bear Deposit)
Deposit |
Tonnes |
U3O8 (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
Horseshoe |
287,000 |
0.166 |
1,049,000 |
Raven |
822,200 |
0.092 |
1,666,000 |
Totals |
1,109,200 |
0.111 |
2,715,000 |
The resource estimates were calculated using a minimum cut-off grade of 0.01% U3O8 utilizing a geostatistical-block model technique with ordinary kriging methods and the DATAMINE Studio 3 software package.
At a lower, 0.02% U3O8 cut-off for these deposits, resources are as follows:
September 2009 N.I. 43-101 Compliant Indicated Mineral Resources on the Hidden Bay Property
at a Cut-off Grade of 0.02% U3O8
Deposit |
Tonnes |
U3O8 (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
Horseshoe |
7,042,400 |
0.157 |
24,427,000 |
Raven |
9,646,100 |
0.073 |
15,544,000 |
West Bear |
188,100 |
0.397 |
1,646,000 |
Totals |
16,876,600 |
0.112 |
41,617,000 |
September 2009 N.I. 43-101 Compliant Inferred Mineral Resources on the Hidden Bay Property
at a Cut-off Grade of 0.02% U3O8
(There are no Inferred resources for the West Bear Deposit)
Deposit |
Tonnes |
U3O8 (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
Horseshoe |
444,900 |
0.122 |
1,192,000 |
Raven |
1,537,600 |
0.067 |
2,278,000 |
Totals |
1,982,500 |
0.079 |
3,470,000 |
In addition to these deposits, Hidden Bay is host to numerous exploration targets, many of which have encountered areas of uranium mineralization. Further details of the principal deposits and other exploration targets on the Hidden Bay property can be accessed through the links below.
Hidden Bay Property Exploration History
The Hidden Bay property, located at the centre of the eastern Athabasca uranium district, has a long exploration history extending back to the early days of exploration in the eastern Athabasca Basin in the district in the 1960s. The property forms much of the original Rabbit Lake property which was explored by Gulf Minerals Canada ("Gulf"), and subsequent owners, including Eldorado Resources ("Eldorado"), Saskatchewan Mining and Development Corp. ("SMDC") and Cameco Corporation ("Cameco"). The Horseshoe and Raven Deposits were first discovered in the early 1970s by Gulf during follow-up drilling of an EM conductor located up-ice from a radioactive boulder train in till. Subsequent drilling by Gulf between 1972 and 1978 comprised a total of 53,329 m of diamond drilling in 212 holes. On the basis of this drilling, Gulf estimated resources of 3,063,000 tonnes grading 0.14% U3O8 in the Raven Deposit, and 3,617,287 tonnes grading 0.17% U3O8 in the Horseshoe Deposit at cut-off grades of 0.03% U3O8 containing a combined total of 23 million pounds (10,387 tonnes) U3O8. Since these resources are of a historical nature and were estimated before N.I. 43-101 standards of disclosure for mineral projects came into effect, and since complete supporting documentation of exploration and analytical methodologies is unavailable, these resources are non-N.I. 43-101 compliant, and should not be relied upon. Although non-compliant, the historical resources demonstrated the presence of a large mineralizing system.
The West Bear deposit was discovered in 1977 by the drilling of a horizontal loop (HLEM - MaxMin II) geophysical conductor defined by ground surveys that directly followed up airborne VLF-EM anomalies. Subsequent drilling by Gulf led to the calculation in 1980 of a historical, non-N.I. 43-101 compliant resource of 130,545 tonnes grading 0.44% U3O8 and totaling 1.266 million pounds U3O8. Drilling on other portions of the Hidden Bay property by previous operators, in particular Cameco, also identified numerous other prospects, including the Telephone Lake, Wolf Lake, Tent-Seal, and Shamus target areas, where low grade uranium mineralization was intersected by diamond drilling.
Drilling and Exploration by UEX Corporation
After acquiring the Hidden Bay property in 2002, UEX Corporation ("UEX") continued to explore various targets on the Hidden Bay property utilizing a combination of airborne and ground electromagnetic, magnetic, radiometric, resistivity and gravity geophysical methods in more grassroots target areas to identify drilling targets. Direct follow-up drilling was carried out in areas where previous drilling had intersected alteration or mineralization. Recognizing that Gulf's West Bear resource may have been understated due to poor drilling recoveries in the historical exploration, the West Bear Deposit was redrilled utilizing a sonic drill and better recoveries were obtained. Drilling was carried out in three campaigns during 2004, 2005 and 2007, and comprised 217 sonic drill holes totaling 6,263 metres of core. The results from these drilling programs form the basis of the West Bear resource estimate.
UEX also initiated re-evaluation of the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits due to rising uranium prices. In 2005, drilling was carried out to test mineralization in selected areas of both deposits in order to assess mineralization continuity between the widely spaced historical Gulf holes. The success of that program led to subsequent drilling programs between 2006 and 2008 in which 272 diamond drill holes totaling 86,100 metres were drilled at Horseshoe and 188 drill holes totaling 48,722 metres were drilled at Raven. These drilling programs not only established continuity of mineralization between the historical Gulf drilling, but expanded the deposit footprints into areas not historically drilled by Gulf, and identified areas of higher grade mineralization within the deposits. This led to the recent and ongoing N.I. 43-101 resource estimate disclosures on the deposits that have shown a significant expansion of the historical resources. An additional 105 diamond drill holes totaling 32,167 metres were drilled in the vicinity of the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits between January and April, 2009. These drill holes tested new areas of mineralization beyond the current resources, and results will be incorporated into revised resource estimates in the summer of 2009.
UEX continues to explore the Hidden Bay property and will evaluate several high priority near-deposit targets in the Horseshoe and Raven areas during the summer and fall of 2009. Several priority targets in other parts of the Hidden Bay property will also be tested during this drilling program.
During the drilling programs on the Hidden Bay property, UEX has followed industry standards regarding core handling, drill hole surveying and data verification. All samples collected from drill core have been analyzed geochemically for uranium and other elements at the Saskatchewan Research Council ("SRC") Geoanalytical Laboratories, an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited facility. UEX has a well established series of protocols regarding sampling, core logging, core handling, quality assurance and control and data validation, including the regular submission of check samples to other laboratories as well as the use of radiometric probe and hand held scintillometer data to verify the position and grade of mineralization in drill holes. Drill core is stored on site at the Raven Camp for future inspection and review, if necessary.
Geological Setting
The Hidden Bay property is at the eastern margin of the prolific, uranium producing Athabasca Basin. It is underlain by flat-lying to shallow-dipping Late Proterozoic sandstone of the Athabasca Group to the northwest, which unconformably overlies metamorphosed clastic and chemical metasedimentary basement rocks and granitic intrusions of the trans-Hudson orogen, exposed to the east. The property straddles the gradational contact between the Mudjatik Domain of the trans-Hudson orogen to the northwest, composed of granitic gneiss domes and intervening psammitic to pelitic gneiss, and the Wollaston Domain to the southeast. The latter is composed of a basal pelitic gneiss unit that is overlain successively by metaarkose and a lithologically diverse upper sequence of quartzite with interlayered amphibolite and calcareous metaarkose. At least two major contractional deformation events and overlapping periods of amphibolite to granulite grade metamorphism are evident in basement rocks in the area and form the main pulses of the 1820-1770 Ma Hudsonian orogeny. These events produced two northeast-trending sets of folds with predominantly southeast-dipping axial planes, and associated axial planar foliations. The polydeformed metamorphic sequence is unconformably overlain by quartz arenite and conglomerate of the Athabasca Group, deposited between 1700 and 1600 Ma.
Major faults in the region include northeast-trending reverse faults and north-trending Tabbernor-type sinistral faults, both of which control the distribution of uranium deposits in the district. Northeast-trending faults dip southeast, are generally concordant, and are frequently localized in graphitic gneiss. The dominant structure of this type is the Rabbit Lake Fault, which crosses central parts of the property and has been traced by drilling for over 40 km. Other significant faults in the area include the Collins Bay Fault system, associated with the Collins Bay and Eagle Point deposits on the Rabbit Lake property, and the Telephone Lake and Tent-Seal Faults. These faults are post-metamorphic semi-brittle to brittle shear zones defined by lithified graphite-rich cleaved zones, graphite-matrix breccia, and seams of graphitic or chloritic clay gouge.
The Hidden Bay property is host to numerous basement and unconformity-hosted uranium prospects. The adjacent Rabbit Lake property of Cameco Corporation ("Cameco") contains five past producing deposits that together have produced more than 53,000 tonnes U (140 million pounds U3O8). Uranium mineralization in the district occurs in a variety of styles that are principally developed associated with reactive graphite-bearing gneiss and carbonate units, in areas of enhanced structural permeability and/or low stress (dilatancy) along faults including fault junctions, beneath brecciated sandstone under overthrust wedges of basement rocks, at bends and en echelon steps in the faults, and at dilatational fault jogs. Three deposit types are developed:
- deposits occurring as lenses and strings of pods straddling the Athabasca unconformity along the trace of northeast-trending reverse faults, localized on graphitic gneiss units (e.g. UEX's West Bear Deposit, Cameco's Cigar Lake Deposit);
- basement-hosted and replacement vein type deposits within reverse fault zones in graphitic gneiss (e.g. Cameco's Eagle Point Deposit) and quartzite (Horseshoe and Raven Deposits); and
- basement-hosted deposits associated with fault development in brecciated carbonate and calc-silicate units (e.g. Cameco's Rabbit Lake and Dawn Lake Deposits).
The Hidden Bay property is host to prospects and deposits of all three types, and to numerous geochemical, geophysical and structural exploration targets.
The Horseshoe and Raven Deposits
The Horseshoe and Raven Deposits are in the northern Hidden Bay property, 4 km southwest of Cameco Corporation's ("Cameco") Rabbit Lake mill facility. The Horseshoe and Raven Deposits lie in overall competent and impermeable quartzite, arkosic quartzite and calc-arkosic gneiss host rocks, with no overlying Athabasca sandstone cover. Apart from localized areas of more intense clay alteration that occur along the main clay zone adjacent to mineralization, lithologies are generally competent even in mineralized areas, since framework quartz grains are largely preserved in moderate to weakly clay-altered areas.
The competent host rocks provide more options for potential mining than are often available in other deposits in the region. These other deposits, unlike Horseshoe and Raven, commonly lie under permeable and often friable ground conditions beneath overlying Athabasca sandstone, the latter which may require ground freezing to enable development.
Uranium mineralization in the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits is hosted by folded arkosic quartzite, quartzite and calc-arkosic gneisses of the Proterozoic Hidden Bay Assemblage. The mineralization is developed along the southeastern limb of the Raven syncline over a 2.5 km strike length, within which currently defined mineralization occurs over strike lengths of 600 to 700 metres at each deposit. Within this area, mineralization occurs mainly on the margins of an east-northeast trending, probably fault-controlled, zone of illite-Mg-chlorite clay alteration. The deposits lie just southeast of the limits of the Athabasca Basin, and the flat-lying Athabasca sandstone is eroded from the local area.
Within each deposit, mineralization surrounds, or is developed along, the generally southeast-dipping clay alteration zone in multiple, generally shallow dipping lenses of disseminated, nodular and vein-like uranium mineralization that occur within areas of red-brown hematite alteration. The principal, and most abundant, uranium-bearing mineral is pitchblende, which may be locally overprinted by secondary uranium minerals that include the yellow-green coloured uranium silicates boltwoodite and uranophane, and less frequently coffinite and carnotite. Precipitation of uranium mineralization may have been directly coupled with hematite formation, occurring at a deposit scale in redox fronts with the mineralization located at the interface between oxidized fluid channelways in clay alteration zones with illite-sudoite dominant alteration, and surrounding reduced wallrock which contains sulphide-bearing assemblages.
Horseshoe Deposit Geology
At the Horseshoe Deposit, drilling conducted by UEX Corporation has defined continuous mineralization over a strike length of approximately 600 metres. Mineralization plunges shallowly to the northeast from 130 to 220 metre depths in the southwestern parts of the deposit to depths of 250 to 450 metres below surface in the northeast. The mineralization occurs in several stacked, linear and shallow-dipping, east-northeast plunging zones which are planar to lenticular in cross section, and in plan view are generally elongate in an east-northeast trend. The mineralization is developed on both sides of, but principally in the hangingwall of, the main northeast trending, southeast dipping clay alteration zone that passes continuously through and between the deposits, and preferentially where the clay alteration zone passes obliquely across the arkosic gneiss unit. Principal zones which host most of the mineralization in the deposit include the A, A2, B East and B West zones. The B West zone is the largest and traceable over much of the length of the deposit. The dominant mineralization style in B West and the B East zones is disseminated pitchblende in competent hematitic arkosic quartzite, which typically grades between 0.1% and 0.3% U3O8. The A zones, which are developed in the upper southeastern portions of the deposit, are typically the highest grade. The A zones comprise dominantly nodular, internally stacked lenses that locally contain intercepts of greater than 10 metres at grades of 0.5% to 1% U3O8, and local grades exceeding 4% over several metres. Mineralization style varies across the deposit, from shallow dipping lenses that mimic the geometry of the folded arkosic quartzite unit in the core of the Raven syncline in the western portion of the deposit, to wider, more extensive and abundant zones of mineralization to the east which dip shallowly southeast and crosscut the gneiss sequence where the controlling clay alteration zone is most structurally focused and shallower dipping.
Raven Deposit Geology
The Raven Deposit, which lies approximately 0.5 km to the west of the Horseshoe Deposit, has been defined over a strike length of approximately 700 metres. Mineralization is developed mainly at depths of between 100 and 300 metres below surface with no significant plunge, defining an overall elongate and east-northeast trending zone of mineralization that is localized along the trace of the Raven syncline. The mineralization at Raven occurs over a broader range of lithologies than at Horseshoe, with significant parts of the deposit also present in quartzite and overlying calc-arkose adjacent to the southeast-dipping, fault-controlled clay alteration zone where it passes through the folded gneiss sequence. Two zones of mineralization comprise the Raven Deposit: the Lower and Upper zones, each of which may split into sub-zones.
The Lower zone, composed mainly of the L01 sub-zone, generally comprises a tabular, steep to moderate southeast-dipping zone of mineralization which occurs along the footwall of, and parallel to, the clay alteration zone over vertical dip lengths of 100 to 200 metres. The L01 zone may occur over widths up to 20 metres, but is generally a few metres wide, with grades typically between 0.05% and 0.1% U3O8 comprising mainly disseminated and stringer mineralization styles.
The Raven Upper zone, composed mainly of the U01 sub-zone, is more complex in geometry, and forms several shallow dipping lobes at depths typically between 100 to 220 metres below surface that are developed in the hangingwall of the clay alteration zone. The Upper zone straddles the quartzite unit, extending both into basal portions of the calc-arkose unit and upper parts of the underlying calc-arkose, with mineralization on many sections forming approximately stratabound lenses which are elongate and northeast-trending. The Raven Upper zone is highly variable in grade, with the highest grades occurring in central parts of the deposit over an approximately 200 metre strike length in the thickest and most extensive parts of the U01 zone. Higher grade areas of the U01 zone are locally developed and may grade 0.3% to 0.8% U3O8 over several tens of metres, comprising nodular and veinlet styles of mineralization, forming probably sinuous alteration fronts along zones of hematization. Overall, grades of both zones are generally lower, however, and comprised of broad intervals of 0.05 to 0.1% U3O8.
Resource Estimation for the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits
Based on definition drilling conducted by UEX between 2005 and 2009 at 15 to 30 metre spacing throughout the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits, resources were estimated to N.I. 43-101 compliant standards by K. Palmer, P.Geo. of Golder Associates Ltd. ("Golder"), and are supported by a technical report dated September 4, 2009 that is filed on SEDAR (Palmer et al. 2009). At the Horseshoe Deposit, Palmer et al. (2009) at a cut-off of 0.05% estimated a resource of 5,119,700 tonnes grading 0.203% U3O8 containing 22.90 million pounds of U3O8 in the Indicated category, and an additional 287,000 tonnes grading 0.166% U3O8 for 1.05 million pounds in the Inferred category. At a cut-off grade of 0.02% U3O8, the new resources at Horseshoe expand to 7,042,400 tonnes grading 0.157% U3O8 containing 24.43 million pounds of U3O8 in the Indicated category, and an additional 444,900 tonnes grading 0.122% U3O8 for 1.19 million pounds in the Inferred category.
Current Raven N.I. 43-101 compliant resources estimated by Palmer et al. (2009) at a cut-off of 0.05% U3O8 comprise 5,173,900 tonnes grading 0.107% U3O8 containing 12.15 million pounds of U3O8 in the Indicated category, and an additional 822,200 tonnes grading 0.092% U3O8 for 1.67 million pounds in the Inferred category. At a cut-off grade of 0.02% U3O8, the current resources at Raven expand to 9,646,100 tonnes grading 0.073% U3O8 containing 15.54 million pounds of U3O8 in the Indicated category, and an additional 1,537,600 tonnes grading 0.067% U3O8 for 2.28 million pounds in the Inferred category.
These N.I. 43-101 compliant mineral resources represent a substantial increase in quantity of contained uranium, grade, and resource confidence level over the non-compliant historical mineral resources estimated by Gulf Minerals Canada ("Gulf") at the deposits in the 1970s. The improvements represent expansion of the total known area of the deposits well beyond the deposit limits interpreted by Gulf, establishment of greater continuity of mineralization between the widely spaced historical Gulf drill holes, and identification of areas of higher grade mineralization within the deposits which were not identified by the historical drilling.
Current N.I. 43-101 compliant resources, as documented in Palmer et al. (2009) are as follows:
September 2009 N.I. 43-101 Compliant Indicated Mineral Resources for the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits
at a Cut-off Grade of 0.05% U3O8
Deposit |
Tonnes |
U3O8 (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
Horseshoe |
5,119,700 |
0.203 |
22,895,000 |
Raven |
5,173,900 |
0.107 |
12,149,000 |
Totals |
10,293,600 |
0.170 |
35,044,000 |
September 2009 N.I. 43-101 Compliant Inferred Mineral Resources for the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits
at a Cut-off Grade of 0.05% U3O8
Deposit |
Tonnes |
U3O8 (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
Horseshoe |
287,000 |
0.166 |
1,049,000 |
Raven |
822,200 |
0.092 |
1,666,000 |
Totals |
1,109,200 |
0.111 |
2,715,000 |
The resource estimates were calculated using a minimum cut-off grade of 0.01% U3O8 utilizing a geostatistical-block model technique with ordinary kriging methods and the DATAMINE Studio 3 software package.
At a lower, 0.02% U3O8 cut-off for these deposits, resources are as follows:
September 2009 N.I. 43-101 Compliant Indicated Mineral Resources for the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits
at a Cut-off Grade of 0.02% U3O8
Deposit |
Tonnes |
U3O8 (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
Horseshoe |
7,042,400 |
0.157 |
24,427,000 |
Raven |
9,646,100 |
0.073 |
15,544,000 |
Totals |
16,688,500 |
0.124 |
39,971,000 |
September 2009 N.I. 43-101 Compliant Inferred Mineral Resources for the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits
at a Cut-off Grade of 0.02% U3O8
Deposit |
Tonnes |
U3O8 (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
Horseshoe |
444,900 |
0.122 |
1,192,000 |
Raven |
1,537,600 |
0.067 |
2,278,000 |
Totals |
1,982,500 |
0.079 |
3,470,000 |
Metallurgical Testing
Metallurgical testwork at both the Horseshoe and Raven Deposits has been conducted by Melis Engineering Ltd. of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and is reported in the N.I. 43-101 compliant report dated September 4, 2009 and available on SEDAR. Testing included core from three HQ-diameter drill holes, two drilled through the Horseshoe Deposit and one drilled in the Raven Deposit, which tested representative parts of each deposit. Results indicate that uranium in both deposits is easily leached under relatively mild atmospheric leach conditions, producing leach extractions of 98% and lacking any significant concentrations of deleterious elements.
Future Plans
With the high proportion of the Horseshoe and Raven resource base in the Indicated category, UEX intends to advance the deposits through scoping level evaluations and ultimately to feasibility level to assess the potential economics and viability of mining the deposits. These studies will examine the most efficient methods and procedures for extracting the defined uranium resource, including the most appropriate road access and support infrastructure, mining methods, operating plans, cash flow analyses and projections in order to determine net present values and internal rates of return for Horseshoe and Raven at various uranium price levels. Potential for toll milling arrangements with Cameco Corporation or AREVA Resources Canada Inc. at their adjacent Rabbit Lake and McClean Lake uranium ore milling facilities will be assessed during these studies. UEX has already commenced environmental baseline and geotechnical studies at the Horseshoe and Raven deposits to support this work.
The West Bear Deposit
The West Bear Deposit, located in the southernmost part of the Hidden Bay property, is a classic unconformity-hosted uranium deposit which is developed under shallow Athabasca sandstone cover above a conductive graphitic gneiss unit. The deposit occurs along a conductive, graphite-bearing gneiss unit where it intersects the overlying Athabasca sandstone along the southern margins of the Dwyer Dome.
West Bear is flat-lying, and forms a northeast-trending mineralized zone that has been defined by drilling over a strike length of 500 metres, in a long, cigar-shaped mineralized zone straddling the unconformity. The mineralization occurs at a vertical depth of between 13 and 31 metres from surface and is one of the shallowest undeveloped uranium deposits in the prolific Athabasca Basin. The deposit ranges in width from 5 to 25 metres, and in vertical thickness from 0.1 m to more than 10 m. Mineralization occurs in intense clay-hematite alteration where a minor fault system hosted by the underlying graphitic conductor intersects the unconformity. The deposit is typical of the unconformity-hosted style of mineralization in the Athabasca Basin that is also exemplified by the McClean Lake and Cigar Lake deposits, and shows the typical association with nickel-cobalt-arsenic mineralization.
Mineralization at West Bear consists of sooty black pitchblende found as disseminations, blebs, and replacement of host rock minerals in both the sandstone and basement rocks. Minor yellow secondary uranium minerals such as uranophane and other gummite minerals are observed as disseminations and blebs in selected drill holes. Higher-grade holes contain intervals of semi-massive pitchblende up to three metres in core length. Pitchblende, sulphides and sulpharsenides of iron, nickel and cobalt and lead are the dominant metallic minerals in the mineralized zone. Nickel-cobalt-arsenic mineralization associated with the sooty pitchblende mineralization is most highly concentrated in eastern portions of the deposit, particularly in lowermost portions of the mineralized zone beneath the unconformity. In these areas, grades range up to 4% nickel. Anomalous nickel-cobalt-arsenic mineralization also occurs in basement graphitic gneiss to the east-southeast of the deposit, defining a prospective exploration area adjacent to the deposit.
A high-grade core to the West Bear Deposit occurs over an approximately 100 metre strike length between sections 1750E and 1850E. Within this area, uranium mineralization has the largest widths, the highest uranium concentrations and is associated with areas of the most intense clay alteration. The resource estimate suggests that approximately 95% of the deposit's contained uranium, as currently defined, is located within this area at a 0.05% U3O8 cut-off, forming a focused potential mining target at depths typically less than 25 metres below surface. The best intercepts in this area include 4.927% U3O8 over 10.10 m in hole UEX-026 (section 1775E), 6.032% U3O8 over 10.67 metres in hole UEX-206 (section 1762.5E), and 4.040% U3O8 over 11.41 metres in hole UEX-207 (section 1762.5E). In easternmost portions of the deposit, mineralization splits into multiple, generally lower-grade lenses, which typically range in grade from 0.1% to 0.7% U3O8.
West Bear Resources
Based on the results from 216 sonic drill holes totaling 6,400 m, which were drilled between 2006 and 2008, Palmer et al. (2008) has estimated a resource for the West Bear Deposit of 78,900 tonnes grading 0.908% U3O8 in the Indicated category containing 1.579 million pounds of U3O8 at a cut-off of 0.05% U3O8.
The recent N.I. 43-101 compliant resource estimate for West Bear was prepared by K. Palmer, P.Geo. of Golder Associates Ltd. and is documented in a technical report dated February 17, 2009 and filed on SEDAR.
The resource estimate was calculated using a minimum cut-off grade of 0.01% U3O8 utilizing a geostatistical-block model technique with ordinary kriging methods and the DATAMINE Studio 3 software package. All of the current mineral resources at West Bear are classified as Indicated. Details of the resource estimate at different cut-off levels are as follows:
Cut-off |
Tonnes |
Density
(g/cm3) |
U3O8 (%) |
Ni (%) |
Co (%) |
As (%) |
U3O8 (lbs) |
0.01 |
209,700 |
1.99 |
0.358 |
0.22 |
0.08 |
0.22 |
1,655,000 |
0.02 |
188,100 |
1.99 |
0.397 |
0.24 |
0.09 |
0.23 |
1,646,000 |
0.03 |
113,000 |
1.99 |
0.645 |
0.28 |
0.10 |
0.32 |
1,605,000 |
0.04 |
85,300 |
2.02 |
0.843 |
0.32 |
0.11 |
0.37 |
1,585,000 |
0.05 |
78,900 |
2.03 |
0.908 |
0.33 |
0.11 |
0.38 |
1,579,000 |
0.10 |
76,100 |
2.03 |
0.939 |
0.33 |
0.10 |
0.38 |
1,574,000 |
0.15 |
70,300 |
2.04 |
1.005 |
0.33 |
0.11 |
0.39 |
1,558,000 |
0.20 |
63,800 |
2.04 |
1.090 |
0.32 |
0.11 |
0.40 |
1,532,000 |
0.25 |
57,300 |
2.04 |
1.187 |
0.31 |
0.11 |
0.41 |
1,500,000 |
0.30 |
52,100 |
2.04 |
1.279 |
0.31 |
0.11 |
0.42 |
1,468,000 |
0.35 |
47,800 |
2.04 |
1.365 |
0.30 |
0.11 |
0.42 |
1,437,000 |
0.40 |
43,600 |
2.05 |
1.461 |
0.31 |
0.11 |
0.44 |
1,403,000 |
UEX Corporation has initiated a prefeasibility study on the West Bear Deposit which is due shortly. This is supported by environmental baseline and geotechnical studies which have been ongoing since 2006.
Other Prospects on the Hidden Bay Property
Outside of the immediate areas of the Horseshoe, Raven and West Bear Deposits, numerous uranium prospects and target areas occur on UEX Corporation's ("UEX") Hidden Bay property. These include the following target areas:
Telephone Lake Fault
The Telephone Lake area comprises an along-strike continuation of faults and conductors which extend into the Sue Deposit area on the adjacent McClean Lake property to the north. The principal target in this area is the Telephone Lake Fault, a north-northeast trending, southeast dipping reverse graphitic fault zone which is developed along the southeast margin of the McClean Lake Dome. Targets in the area comprise Eagle Point basement-style mineralization along, and adjacent to, the fault in the basement gneiss sequence, and associated unconformity-style mineralization where the fault intersects the base of the overlying Athabasca sandstone.
Mineralization encountered in the Telephone Lake area includes an intercept of 4.52% U3O8 over 0.5 metres from 189.8 to 190.3 m in basement rocks just beneath the unconformity in hole SP 156, drilled by UEX in 2005 and located at the north end of the Telephone Lake Fault 2.1 km southwest of the Sue E Deposit. Hole SP-176, located 300 metres northeast of SP-156, intersected 0.37% U3O8 over 0.5 m from 202.4 to 202.9 m.
In 2006, drilling in the southern Telephone area 2.6 km to the southwest of SP-156 tested for extensions of mineralization intersected by historical holes SP-32 (0.60% U3O8 over 0.9 m) and SP-38 (0.62% U3O8 over 0.6 m). Hole SP-166 intersected an approximately 30 metre interval containing local disseminated and veinlet-controlled pitchblende in faulted Athabasca sandstone adjacent to faulted basement rocks within the Telephone Lake Fault zone. Mineralization includes 0.20% U3O8 over 6.80 metres from 129.7 to 136.5 m, and 0.11% U3O8 over 6.50 metres from 148.5 to 155.0 m.
UEX continues to evaluate this area; it is considered a high priority exploration target for mainly basement-hosted mineralization. Recent and historical drilling has outlined several areas along this fault which contain multiple anomalous areas of mineralization near the unconformity. These form principal targets for follow-up, mainly for basement mineralization down dip and adjacent to the fault zone.
Shamus Lake
The Shamus Lake area is the southwestern continuation of the Telephone Lake area trend and, similar to that area, the principal target is the southwestern continuation of the southeast dipping Telephone Lake Fault, which lies along the southeast side of the McClean Lake Dome. The Telephone Lake Fault in the Shamus Lake area splits from the single structure observed in the Telephone Lake area into several strands on the Shamus Lake grid. The principal target in the Shamus Lake area is either unconformity- or basement-hosted uranium mineralization, similar to the Eagle Point Mine or the Sue Deposits. Prior to UEX acquiring the property, previous operators had drilled holes SHA-001 to SHA-032. These widely spaced drill holes intersected several areas of low-grade mineralization with associated alteration and returned grades ranging from 0.1% to 0.46% U3O8 over intervals of several metres, including 0.39% U3O8 over 2.2 metres in hole SHA-20.
Tent-Seal
The principal target in this area is the Tent-Seal Fault, which is an east-northeast trending, moderate south-southeast dipping reverse fault zone that is developed in graphitic gneiss. The fault and hosting graphitic gneiss occur along the northerly contact of the Collins Bay Dome. Areas of clay alteration containing drusy quartz veins and anomalous radioactivity had previously been intersected here along fault strands. The alteration style and drusy quartz veining that was intersected historically in the Tent Seal area are comparable to peripheral alteration adjacent to mineralization at the Eagle Point mine. This, coupled with the presence of a pod of basement-hosted mineralization known to occur along the Tent-Seal Fault on the adjacent McClean Lake property to the west, make the Tent-Seal area a prospective exploration target. Recent drilling has intersected additional areas of quartz veining and clay alteration, but no significant mineralization has been encountered to date. Evaluation of this area will continue.
Rabbit West
The Rabbit West target area is situated on and south of the Rabbit Lake Fault, near its intersection with the Lampin Lake Fault. The latter is a northeast trending splay of the Ahenakew Fault that links it to the Rabbit Lake Fault. The area shows fault offsets of magnetic lithologies and corresponds with a radiometric high, forming composite structural-radiometric targets. The radiometric anomaly, defined by airborne surveys and confirmed by historical overburden drilling in this area, terminates up-ice along the Rabbit Lake Fault.
Between 2006 and 2008, UEX drilled 27 holes totalling 7,274 metres over a 3 km strike length in three areas along and south of the Rabbit Lake Fault. Many holes drilled to the south of the Rabbit Lake Fault intersected minor faults, hematite, and weak clay altered pegmatite that is locally brecciated and contains anomalous radioactivity and uranium mineralization. Intercepts obtained during the 2006 and 2007 drilling programs include 0.184% U3O8 over 0.6 metres from 102.2 to 102.8 m in hole LMS-107, 0.182% U3O8 over 0.44 metres from 192.46 to 192.9 m in hole LMS-112, and 0.284% U3O8 over 1.15 metres from 72.45 to 73.6 m in hole LMS-114. Future exploration at Rabbit West will evaluate the area for more focused, higher grade targets within this broadly anomalous area.
Vixen Lake
The Vixen Lake area contains an extensive uranium-nickel anomaly and boulder train of glacially transported mineralized material in overburden which was historically identified by Gulf Minerals Canada 2.5 to 4 km southwest of the past-producing Rabbit Lake Deposit. Twelve diamond drill holes totaling 2,256 m were drilled in 2004 for UEX under management by Cameco Corporation, ten of which encountered strong chlorite ± clay alteration and brittle brecciation similar to the alteration and structures associated with the Rabbit Lake Deposit. Despite the strong alteration encountered, the drill holes did not intersect any significant radioactivity. Future work will evaluate the potential of these uranium-nickel anomalies closer to the Rabbit Lake Fault to the northeast, further in the up-ice direction.
Wolf Lake
The Wolf Lake area is underlain by a pair of conductive graphitic pelitic gneiss horizons which outline a probable domal D2 fold. Metamorphic lithologies dip shallowly to the south, and graphitic units are remobilized by local post-Athabasca faults beneath a thin cover of Athabasca sandstone. Anomalous uranium mineralization and alteration have been historically intersected in drill holes in several locations along these horizons. Drilling by UEX during 2007 in the Wolf Lake area followed up and tested potential lateral extensions of areas of historical drilling which contained anomalous and low grade intercepts at vertical depths of 40 to 100 metres. The northern area identified a clay altered graphitic pelite with significant faults and clay gouge. Intersections include:
- 39.5 metres grading 0.036% U3O8 from 46.0 to 85.5 m, including 0.133% U3O8 from 64.0 to 64.3 m and 0.054% U3O8 from 76.5 to 77.4 m in WO-125;
- 1.65 metres grading 0.076% U3O8 from 101.85 to 103.5 m in WO-127;
- 2.0 metres grading 0.65% U3O8 from 53.0 to 55.0 m in WO-130; and
- 0.6 metres grading 0.052% U3O8 from 77.0 to 77.6 m in WO-131.
The target area where these intercepts were obtained is open to the north.
Dwyer Dome Targets
Several prospects lie around the Dwyer Dome on the same conductive trend as the West Bear Deposit in the southernmost portions of the Hidden Bay property. These include Pebble Hill, North Shore and Blanche Lake, where small pods of mineralization had been outlined historically by drilling. Principal targets in the Dwyer Dome area are for shallow, unconformity-hosted mineralization similar to West Bear. UEX tested several of these areas between 2002 and 2006 to follow up on historical results, consequently relocating mineralization in several areas (e.g. 1.926% U3O8 over a 2.2 m at the Pebble Hill prospect). Future work will evaluate the potential areal extent of this mineralization and assess intervening areas that have not been tested.
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