Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSXV: SYH) (OTCQX: SYHBF) (Frankfurt: SC1P) announced that its joint-venture partner Orano Canada Inc. started its 2024 field campaign at the Preston Uranium Project in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan.
Announced on Wednesday, the program includes a ground electromagnetic survey (ML-TEM), a Spatiotemporal Geochemical Hydrocarbons (SGH) soil sampling program and a ground gravity survey.
Orano will carry out the first exploration programs on the property since 2020. The geophysics program covering an estimated 35.6 line-km and 2,295 stations, respectively.
The ML-TEM survey will encompass Preston West, targeting a known conductor, and Preston Far West as a reconnaissance survey. The gravity survey aims to identify alteration zones manifesting as gravity lows across the designated area. The company intends to start SHG soil sampling later in the summer. Additionally, the company’s budget for the 2024 campaign is approximately CAD$850,000, with Orano operating the project and Skyharbour participating as a minority partner.
“This is the first field work being carried out at the project in several years, and we have elected to participate in the program as a minority partner in the JV as we strongly believe in Preston’s discovery upside potential,” Jordan Trimble, president and CEO of Skyharbour, said.
Geophysical survey progress map. Image via Skyharbour Resources.
Read more: ATHA Energy expands into new Canadian territory with 2024 exploration program
Read more: ATHA Energy closes acquisition of Latitude Uranium, obtains Nunavut and Labrador properties
Skyharbour signed option agreement with Orano in 2017
In March 2017, Skyharbour signed an option agreement with Orano granting an earn-in option to acquire a majority working interest in the project.
Orano met its earn-in option requirements in early 2021 through a mix of exploration spending and cash payments. After it spent roughly CAD$4.8 million it formed a JV with Skyharbour and Dixie Gold to advance the program. Now Orano owns a 51 per cent stake in the JV, with the remainder split between Skyharbour and Dixie Gold.
Past discoveries in the area by NexGen Energy Ltd. (TSX: NXE) (NYSE: NXE) (ASX: NXG), including its Arrow deposit, Fission Uranium Corp. (TSX: FCU) (OTCQX: FCUUF) (Frankfurt: 2FU), ATHA Energy Corp. (CSE: SASK) (FRA: X5U) (OTC: SASKF), and F3 Uranium Corp. (TSXV: FUU) (OTCQB: FUUFF) (FSE:X42) provide impetus for the potential of the project.
Exploration efforts at the project have encompassed ground gravity, airborne and ground electromagnetics, radon, soil, silt, biogeochem, lake sediment, and geological mapping surveys, as well as exploratory drill programs.
Through these methodical, multiphased exploration initiatives, over a dozen high-priority drill target areas associated with multiple prospective exploration corridors have been successfully delineated. These have culminated in the development of an extensive, proprietary geological database for the project area.
ATHA Energy Corp. is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage
