Hathor doubles Roughrider deposit

The first resource estimate for the East Zone of the Roughrider uranium deposit in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin doubles the overall size of the deposit, Hathor Exploration (HAT-T) reported today.

Inferred resources for the East Zone of the deposit stand at 118,000 tonnes grading 11.58% U308 for 30.1 million pounds of contained uranium. The resource estimate was reported at a 0.4% U308 cut-off grade based on an underground mining scenario, a 98% metallurgical recovery rate and metal prices of US$80 per lb. U308. (The current spot price for uranium is US$57 per lb.)

The West Zone of the Roughrider deposit currently has indicated resources at the same cut-off grade of 394,200 tonnes grading 1.98% U308 for contained uranium of 17.21 million pounds uranium, and inferred resources of 43,600 tonnes grading 11.03% U308 for 10.6 million pounds of contained uranium.

The maiden resource for the East Zone was based on 21 holes drilled between September 2009 and September 2010. Hathor notes that the East Zone is a series of stacked, parallel lenses that collectively dip moderately to the northeast. And unlike the West Zone, it says, the mineral lenses are not uniformly mantled by a rim of low-grade mineralization.

Hathor acquired Roughrider Uranium in 2006, started drilling the Midwest Northeast property (the main uranium producing eastern corridor of the Athabasca Basin) in 2007, and discovered the Roughrider West Zone in 2008 and the East Zone in 2009. The East Zone is the middle of four zones currently identified at Roughrider.

So far the junior has drilled more than 100,000 metres and over 300 holes.

In June 2010 the company reported recovery levels of up to 98.9% from metallurigical leach tests.

Roughrider is 8.5 km north of the community of Points North and the Points North commercial airport, the main service hub for northeastern Saskatchewan. It is 6 km by winter road away from Highway 955.

At presstime Hathor was trading at $2.50 per share and has traded over the last year between a low of $1.35 (May 21 2010) and a high of $3.57 (Dec. 6 2010). The junior has about 108.7 million shares outstanding.