High-Grade Uranium And Rare Earth Element Mineralization At Surface On Catharsis And Hook Projects
TORONTO - Baselode Energy Corp. reported the surface sample results from the summer prospecting work completed over the Catharsis and Hook projects, Athabasca Basin area, northern Saskatchewan. Highlights include: A channel sample at Hook returned high-grade* Uranium and Rare Earth Elements (REE) with 1.33 wt% U3O8 and 1.84 wt% Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) over 0.4 m; Four grab samples from Catharsis returned encouraging REE results with up to 2.14 wt% TREO; and All of the samples reported have consistently high concentration of critical REE, including heavy REE enrichment at Hook.
"The REE-enrichment on the Catharsis and Hook was unexpected but well-received. We're encouraged by these findings as they suggest our projects are exposed to a broader and larger minerals systems, including high-grade uranium and REE exploration potential. REE are considered "critical minerals", or those that are under high demand with scarce source of supply, by Canada, United States of America, Australia and European Union. REE products are highly sought for their unique qualities that have enabled rapid evolution of high-tech equipment and products, including modern solar panels, wind farms, electric vehicles, and cell phones." said James Sykes, CEO, President.
The summer field exploration crew covered a large swathe of land and visited more than 100 outcrops on Catharsis. A total of 26 samples were removed from twenty-one individual outcrops for either radiometric determination or background lithological chemistry. Four samples from three outcrops returned encouraging REE results ranging from 0.54 wt% TREO to 2.14 wt% TREO. All four samples had a critical REE concentration (CREO) comprising between 23 to 26% of the TREO, with the CREO portion being dominated by praseodymium (Pr6O11) and neodymium (Nd2O3). CREO are the most sought-after and valuable of the REE in the current market because of their importance fabricating high-strength magnets. The remaining 22 samples did not have any anomalous uranium or REE values to report.
Samples 4 and 8 occur along the same regional lithological trend but are separated by approximately 10 km. Sample 4 was removed from a radioactive biotite schist (>80% biotite) within a small island outcrop. The biotite schist rock is very similar to other known high-grade REE occurrences in Saskatchewan. Sample 8 was removed from an outcrop hosting metasedimentary gneiss inundated with pegmatite veins, the latter being the sampled radioactive material.
Both samples 30 & 31 were removed from different locations along a newly discovered radiometric anomaly measuring 250 m long, approximately 1 to 5 m wide at the lithological contact between metasedimentary gneiss and a granitic unit to the west. The radioactive trend was not followed further as the outcrop becomes lost beneath overburden and vegetative cover along strike directions. The discovery is significant because it's on trend with a number of historic high-grade uranium surface showings.
Outcrops at Hook were not as frequent as those at Catharsis, but the summer field crew was able to visit a number of priority targets defined by an airborne radiometric survey . Most of the anomalies identified by the Survey were boulder patches and were not sampled.
The strongest radiometric anomaly identified in the Survey was located in outcrop and sampled. A 0.5 m long channel sample was cut and returned 1.33 wt% U3O8 and 1.84 wt% TREO over 0.4 m. The results are encouraging as they returned similar TREO values as those reported by Valor Resources Limited (ASX: VAL) on October 5, 2021. Baselode considers the overall Hook area potentially significant for a new high-grade uranium and REE minerals system in Saskatchewan.
The Hook channel sample has a CREO concentration comprising 19% of the TREO. Although lower than the samples from Catharsis and still enriched with praseodymium (Pr6O11) and neodymium (Nd2O3), of particular interest is that the CREO for these samples are more enriched in terbium (Tb4O7) and dysprosium (Dy2O3) than the Catharsis results. Terbium and dysprosium are the most valuable CREO by USD$/kg.
Assay results from the remaining drill holes (AK21-02A to AK21-04) completed on ACKIO have been received, quality checked, and approved by the Company's technical team. More updates in the coming weeks once the technical team has fully evaluated and interpreted the results.
Baselode is planning for a 10,000 meter diamond drill program on the ACKIO discovery to begin in mid- to late-January. Drill holes will be planned to intersect mineralization along strike and dip, which remains open in all directions, and to test for unconformity-style of mineralization. The drill program will be operated with helicopter support to lessen any ground-induced environmental impacts within the project area.