First Resource For Crosshair’s Bootheel Uranium Project

The state of Wyoming has produced well in excess of 200 million lbs. of uranium oxide and Crosshair Exploration & Mining (CXX-T, CXZ-X) believes its flagship Bootheel project will play a role in boosting those numbers over the next decade.

The Vancouver-based junior has completed an initial resource estimate for the property in the Shirley basin of southern Wyoming demonstrating an indicated resource of 1.09 million lbs. of uranium oxide (from 1.44 million tonnes grading 0.038% U₃0₈) and an inferred resource of 3.25 million lbs. (from 4.4 million tonnes grading 0.037% U₃0₈).

The resource estimate for Bootheel was based on results from 93 holes (50,163 ft.) drilled by Crosshair and roughly 1,450 historic drill holes.

Less than 60% of the historical resource was included in the initial estimate and the resource remains open for expansion, the company says.

Crosshair is partnered with Ur-Energy(URE-T, URG-X) at Bootheel. Crosshair is earning a 75% interest in the project and anticipates completing its earn-in during this fiscal quarter.

The partners believe Bootheel has in-situ mining potential and could be a near-term producer. With in-situ mining, the uranium is recovered on resin pellets, which are then transported to another, licensed operation where the uranium is extracted.

Typically these kinds of operations have lower capital and potentially lower operating costs, Crosshair notes. In-situ recovery (ISR) techniques are also more environmentally friendly and less capital intensive than conventional mining methods.

Mineralization at Bootheel occurs within several different sandstone beds. The majority of the resources are found in its Sundance Formation.

“When compared to other similar in-situ recovery projects within the United States, the 14-foot average thickness of the Sundance Formation is greater than many comparable projects and should provide a significant benefit in reducing well field development costs by requiring fewer wells,” Stewart Wallis, Crosshair’s president, said in a statement.

The next step is additional drilling, permitting and a scoping study.

Crosshair estimated an approximate cutoff grade based on an estimated mining cost of $18 per lb. of U₃0₈ and a long-term price of US$70 per lb. uranium oxide. The resultant cutoff grade used for the Sundance resource was 0.015% U₃0₈.

For the Wind River Formation resource, the cutoff was increased to 0.02% U₃0₈ to allow for the possibility of lower recoveries in the formation and increased drill density required for the development of the well fields.

In addition to Bootheel, Crosshair has four defined resources at its CMB uranium project in Labrador. These assets fall outside of Labrador Inuit Lands and are therefore not directly impacted by the Nunatsiavut government’s three-year moratorium on uranium mining within their self-governed lands.

At presstime, Crosshair traded at 21¢ per share in a 52-week trading range of 8.5-47.5¢. The Vancouver- based junior has 112.2 million shares outstanding.