Uracan Cuts More Uranium Along Quebec’s North Shore

Uracan Resources (URC-V, URCFF-O) has intercepted uranium on the Double S zone at its North Shore project in Quebec, extending the known mineralized zone.

So far, Uracan has reported 17 assays from the 21-hole, 4,800-metre program. Hole 62 cut 182 metres grading 0.015% uranium oxide from a depth of 95 metres. (A part of this hole was reported in February; the intercept is the widest yet encountered.) Hole 78 returned 72 metres of 0.014% uranium oxide from 46 metres depth. Hole 80 intercepted 39 metres of 0.014% uranium oxide from near surface, plus 30 metres of 0.023% uranium oxide from 149 metres, and another two intercepts totaling 26 metres of 0.01-0.033% uranium oxide. And hole 72 cut 40 metres of 0.021% uranium oxide from 164 metres.

Mineralization on the Double S zone continues to occur as broad, multiple-stacked mineralized zones in granites and pegmatites. The drill program was designed to determine the updip and strike extension potential of the mineralization that had been defined previously. Drilling was carried out over an area of 1,000 by 250 metres to the west and north of the known mineralization. Uracan says that the drilling was successful in that it outlined additional mineralization on Double S.

The 990-sq.-km North Shore project is on the north shore of the St. Lawrence Seaway in eastern Quebec, and the mineralization found so far is 8 km from the Seaway. In addition to the resource estimated on the Double S zone, the company has released estimates for two other zones, the TJ zone and the Middle zone. Together, inferred resources on the three zones total 155 million tonnes grading an average 0.012% U₃O₈, for 41 million lbs. uranium oxide at a cutoff grade of 0.009%. Uracan’s strategy for North Shore is to define near-surface uranium resources that could be mined via an open pit.

The project is a part of the Turgeon Lake intrusive complex in the Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield. Uracan says Grenville features complex, irregular folded structures, numerous gneiss domes and basins, and variable intrusive rocks ranging from gabbros to alkali- rich rocks.

The company says the project area is underlain by geological units potentially hosting significant uranium mineralization, including uranium veins and disseminations linked to pegmatites and granitic gneisses. Metasedimentary rocks are mineralized in uranium and rare earth elements, and porphyritic granitoids are noted as carrying copper-gold and copper-molybdenum.

Uracan has also found uranium mineralization on the Costebelle claims group, 65-115 km northeast of the Turgeon Lake claims, and is exploring the Pipewrench Lake project, 120 km south of the Athabasca basin, in Saskatchewan.

At presstime, Uracan shares traded at 26¢ in a 12-month range of 12-60¢. The company has 91 million shares outstanding, and on Jan. 31, the company had working capital of $5.3 million.