Azincourt Energy Corp. (TSX.V: AAZ) (OTCQB: AZURF) intends on drilling up to 1,500 meters in a maximum of five drill holes at the East Preston uranium project in the Athabasca Basin.
The company announced its 2024 winter drill program on Tuesday. The company is placing a high priority on following up on the clay alteration zone with elevated uranium that it identified winter of last year.
In 2023, drilling revealed an illite clay alteration halo stretching from the top of Zone K to Zone H, reaching as far as drill hole EP0053. Within this illite alteration zone, the north end of Zone H contains dravite and kaolinite.
Illite and kaolinite are commonly associated with hydrothermal alteration, which can occur in proximity to uranium deposits. Dravite is a boron-rich clay found near uranium mineralization in hydrothermal systems. It suggests the presence of uranium.
Both illite and kaolinite serve as indicators of hydrothermal alteration commonly found within alteration halos of unconformity uranium deposits. Dravite, a boron-rich clay, is present within the broader clay package near uranium mineralization in the hydrothermal system.
F3 Uranium‘s (TSXV: FUU) (OTCQB: FUUFF) (FSE:X42) 2022 discovery of the JR Zone, located approximately 60 km northwest of the East Preston project, identified both illite and dravite as significant vectors.
Read more: ATHA Energy receives approval for TSX Venture listing; Latitude shareholders authorize acquisition
Read more: ATHA Energy hires knowledgeable senior vice president of business development
Drilling scheduled for the last week of March
Azincourt Energy’s program is mobilizing one helicopter-supported drill rig and will operate from a local contractor camp, minimizing disturbance as there is no access road. The drill and crew mobilization are currently under way, with drilling scheduled to begin by the last week of March. The company expects to be finished drilling by mid-April. The program has allocated a budget of CAD$1.5-2 million for these activities.
Based on a compilation of results from ground-based EM and gravity surveys conducted from 2018 to 2020, property-wide VTEM and magnetic surveys, and drill programs spanning from 2019 to 2022, Azincourt Energy’s primary target areas on the East Preston Project are the conductive corridors extending from the A-Zone through to the G-Zone and from the K-Zone through to the H and Q-Zones. The 2020 Horizontal Loop Electromagnetic Survey survey has indicated the presence of multiple prospective conductors and structural complexity along these corridors.
The Athabasca Basin has been the site of positive news over the past few months.
ATHA Energy Corp. (TSXV: SASK) (FRA: X5U) (OTCQB: SASKF) has actively engaged in a joint venture with Stallion Uranium Corp. (TSXV: STUD) (OTCQB: STLNF), collectively holding a substantial land package.
Ontario’s Expert Geophysics recently conducted the largest-ever airborne geophysical survey in the southwestern Athabasca Basin on behalf of the companies. The survey covered the entirety of their land holdings and unveiled over 560 kilometers of conductive trends. It also identified “bends and splays” commonly linked to abundant uranium mineralization.
Earlier this month, Australia-based Recharge Metals (ASX: REC) bought the Newnham Lake uranium project from DG Resource Management (DGRM) and Kalt Industries for CAD$500,000 in cash and shares and a 1 per cent return royalty.
ATHA Energy Corp. is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage
