Arguably, the Thelon Basin in Nunavut is right behind the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan as the top uranium producing jurisdictions in the world in terms of strength of grade.
It also has strong potential for uranium development due to its favourable geology and significant historical exploration. The reason why of course is that its geological features are similar to those in the Athabasca Basin, which hosts some of the world’s richest uranium mines.
The basin’s ancient rocks and overlying sedimentary layers create ideal conditions for high-grade uranium deposits. The exploration technologies being employed and the growing global demand for uranium make the Thelon Basin a promising area for future uranium exploration and development.
Here are three companies operating in the Thelon basin.
Greenridge Exploration Inc. (CSE: GXP) (FRA: HW3) owns and operates the Nut Lake Property in the Thelon Basin in Nunavut.
Geologically, the project is bounded by two basins marking an unconformity that has garnered global attention for uranium exploration. The Nut Lake Property has the potential to host unconformity vein and breccia type uranium-bearing systems.
Additionally, the most notable concentrations of this deposit type are called “Beaverlodge-Type” vein uranium deposits. These are typically found in the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan. These form in ancient rocks along faults and fractures. These are also typically found in narrow veins and breccia zones in basement rocks. This makes them different from other types of uranium deposits, which require different exploration methods focused on structural features and alteration patterns.
This region is one of the most important sources of uranium in Canada. It produces approximately 62.8 million pounds of uranium at about 0.20 per cent U3O8.

Image via Greenridge Exploration.
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ATHA Energy gets to work on Lac 50 deposit
ATHA Energy Corp (TSXV: SASK) (FRA: X5U) (OTCQB: SASKF) recently acquired The Angilak Deposit in its deal with Latitude Uranium Inc.
The company is focusing on acquiring, exploring and developing uranium resource properties to contribute to a clean energy future. Specifically, the primary area of operation is in Canada’s Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, but it’s also in Labrador and Nunavut.
Additionally, ATHA will start a 10,000-metre drill program at its new northern site in June. Angilak’s Lac 50 deposit contains an estimated 43.3 million pounds of U3O8 at an average grade of 0.69 per cent.
Last year, drill results at Angilak reported by Latitude showed grades as high as 7.5 per cent U3O8.
Recent exploration has returned drill samples yielding uranium grades as high as 7.5 per cent U3O8. This high-grade potential, coupled with extensive planned drilling programs, underscores the project’s importance in the quest to meet rising global uranium demand driven by the shift towards cleaner energy sources.
ATHA has raised several million dollars to forward its mining endeavours since it went public 11 months ago.
“ATHA has a unique opportunity to leverage a strong balance sheet to invest at scale in a large number of early-stage exploration projects, while also providing significant exploration upside through advancement of our known uranium deposits and discoveries,” said Cliff Revering, ATHA’s vice president of exploration.

A sled train delivered fuel tanks, sea containers with drills, camp materials and other equipment to the site of the Aberdeen drill camp. Image via Forum Energy Metals.
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Forum Energy to start drilling campaign in June
Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) (OTCQB: FDCFF) recently mobilized personnel and equipment for a 10,000-metre drill program at its Aberdeen uranium project in Nunavut. The company intends on starting full-scale drilling in June.
Located adjacent to Orano’s major Kiggavik deposit in the Thelon Basin, the Aberdeen project comprises 40 claims spanning over 95,000 hectares. Forum says Cameco Corporation (TSX: CCO) (NYSE: CCJ) discovered significant uranium mineralization there between 2008 and 2012. During that time, the major producer drilled 135 holes totalling 36,000 metres. This lead to the discovery of the Tatiggaq and Qavvik uranium deposits.
The company plans to build on the success of last year’s drilling program. In 2023, Forum reported intercepting a decent grade of 2.25 per cent yellowcake uranium (U3O8) over 11 metres at the site’s Tatiggaq deposit.
Forum’s own 2023 drilling program yielded positive results, finding a significant intersection of 2.25 per cent yellowcake uranium over 11 meters at Tatiggaq. With this year’s expanded 10,000-meter program, Forum hopes to capitalize on these early successes and potentially discover additional high-grade uranium mineralization within the Aberdeen project.
The basin’s reach also extends beyond uranium mining.
Agnico Eagle Mining‘s (NYSE: AEM) (TSX: AEM) large-scale gold mines, Meadowbank and Amaruuq, are benefiting from the relatively well-developed mining infrastructure in the Thelon Basin. These mines churned out over 400,000 ounces of gold last year. Additionally, in 2017, they boasted estimated resources of 2.7 million ounces of gold in 2017. The town and inland port of Baker Lake also provide key support for these operations.
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