Uranium prices could see higher highs in 2023. All thanks to renewed demand, global support for nuclear power, and geopolitical issues. In fact, according to Northern Miner, “Rising uranium demand and diminishing secondary supplies have spurred an increase in production. Rising long term prices and increased contract volumes are needed to provide the necessary price incentive for uranium producers to bring production back online or start up new projects. That said, uranium supplies remain tight and further price appreciation is anticipated.” That’s a strong catalyst for uranium prices, and for related stocks, such as Skyharbour Resources (TSXV: SYH) (OTCQX: SYHBF), Cameco Corporation (TSX: CCO) (NYSE: CCJ), Uranium Energy Corporation (NYSE: UEC), Denison Mines Corp (TSX: DML) (NYSE: DNN), and Energy Fuels (NYSE: UUUU) (TSX: EFR).
With regards to geopolitical issues, Russia’s influence over nuclear fuels has forced some European countries to accelerate nuclear power plant plans, including France and Poland. In addition, as also added by Northern Miner, “As the war drags on, we expect that existing nuclear utilities will scramble to cover their uranium requirements. Security of supply concerns might overshadow economics over the next few years, such that we might see additional funding of domestic nuclear programs, R&D, and uranium industry support.”
Look at Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSXV: SYH) (OTCQX: SYHBF), For Example
Skyharbour Resources Ltd. announced that it has acquired by staking eight new prospective uranium exploration properties within the Athabasca Basin of Northern Saskatchewan. These 100% owned, eight properties comprise 34,022 hectares (85,070 acres) in the Basin, which is host to the highest-grade uranium deposits in the world and is consistently ranked as a top mining jurisdiction by the Fraser Institute.
Skyharbour’s New Uranium Project Portfolio Map:
https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/SKY_SaskProject_Locator_20230320_V2A.jpg
The new properties bring Skyharbour’s total land package that it has ownership interest in to 492,074 hectares (1,215,941 acres), across twenty-three properties, representing one of the largest project portfolios in the region. As the Company remains focused at its ongoing 10,000m drill program at the Russell Lake project, these new properties will become a part of Skyharbour’s prospect generator business as the Company will seek strategic partners to advance these assets. These properties have no underlying royalties or encumbrances on them.
List of New Properties:
Highway Project - 1,184 ha
CBX Project – 1,761 ha
Shoe Project – 609 ha
Snow Project – 212 ha
Elevator Project – 9,294 ha
914 Project – 2,129 ha
914N Project – 450 ha
Karin Project – 18,383 ha
Jordan Trimble, President and CEO of Skyharbour Resources, states: “We have been actively staking new mineral claims and adding to our substantial uranium project portfolio in the Athabasca Basin. These newly acquired projects are strategically located and are geologically prospective with very little modern exploration having been carried out on them. They complement our more advanced-stage exploration assets including Russell Lake, Moore and South Falcon Point, and provide additional ground to option or joint-venture out to new partner companies as a part of our prospect generator business. Executing on this part of the business, Skyharbour has signed option agreements with seven different partners that total over $34 million in partner-funded exploration expenditures, over $22 million in stock being issued and just under $15 million in cash payments coming into the Company, assuming that all of these partner companies complete the full earn-ins at their respective projects.”
Summary of Recently Staked Properties:
Highway Project:
The Highway Project consists of one claim covering 1,184 ha approximately 41 km south of the Rabbit Lake Mine and 11 km SW of Uranium Energy Corp.’s (“UEC”, formerly UEX) West Bear U and Co-Ni Deposits. Highway 905 runs through the property and is in close proximity to regional infrastructure, providing excellent access for exploration. Despite its proximity to infrastructure and excellent access, the project is relatively underexplored. The project is underlain by prospective Wollaston Supergroup metasedimentary gneisses (pelitic to psammopelitic and psammitic to meta-arkosic) folded around and overlying an Archean felsic gneiss dome in the core of a northeast trending antiformal fold nose. The Highway Project is located approximately 7 km east of the present-day margin of the Athabasca Basin but is believed to have been covered by Athabasca sandstone in the past.
Highway Project Map:
https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/images/Sky-Highway.jpg
The earliest work on the property was completed between 1968-1978 and included airborne EM, magnetic, and radiometric surveys, along with bedrock mapping, prospecting, radon sampling, and ground EM surveying on portions of the property; as well as a single augered drill hole. The project has also been covered by portions of airborne EM and magnetics surveys in 2009, 2011, and 2017. There are historic EM conductors southwest of the property along strike at “T-Lake”, where surface sampling and historic diamond drilling encountered anomalous U, Th, and REEs graphitic faulting, and variably altered fracture zones (AF MAW02132). The EM conductors at T-Lake are coincident with a northeast-trending magnetic low along the Archean-Wollaston Supergroup contact, which continues onto the Highway property and is folded around the Archean gneiss dome, before continuing off property to the southwest along the northern fold limb. Off the property, the northern fold limb is also associated with EM conductors north of Robertson Lake and by Dorward Bay, and with off-conductor uranium and thorium mineralization (≤44,297 ppm UO2 and ≤195,200 ppm ThO2) at the “Manhattan Showing” (SMDI 2052). Ground prospecting on the Highway property in 2011 encountered a pegmatite-pelitic gneiss boulder (SMDI 5531) containing 3475 ppm TREE+Y+Sc, suggesting the Highway Project is prospective for rare earth elements (REE’s) in addition to basement-hosted unconformity-related and/or intrusive-type uranium mineralization.
Snow, Shoe, and CBX Projects:
The Snow, Shoe, and CBX properties consist of three non-contiguous claims totalling 2,582 ha located approximately 10 to 25 km along strike to the northeast of the currently idled Eagle Point uranium mine (Cameco’s Rabbit Lake Operation). The claims are located at the northern end of Wollaston Lake and underlain by Wollaston Supergroup pelitic, psammopelitic, and psammitic gneisses, Hudsonian intrusives, and Archean felsic gneisses of the Western Wollaston Domain. Similar lithologies host uranium mineralization at the Rabbit Lake operation, including the Eagle Point deposit, and other uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin and surrounding regions.
Snow, Shoe, and CBX Projects Map:
https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/Sky_WalleeUsam_20230329.jpg
Previous work on the properties is generally historical in nature, and consists of airborne EM, magnetics, and radiometrics surveys, marine seismic, prospecting, geological mapping, and geochemical sampling done mostly between 1968 and 1981, with some additional work in 1993. The only modern exploration on the properties themselves consists of a Heli-TDEM and magnetic survey flown in 2007, although drilling and other modern exploration have been done on adjacent properties. Several historical conductors were identified by a 1978 Mk VI INPUT EM survey (AF 64L-0011) that either lie on the properties or are along trend of the properties. No diamond drilling or modern ground geophysical surveying have taken place on the projects. All three properties are prospective for unconformity-related, basement-hosted uranium mineralization as well as pegmatite- and granite-hosted uranium and REEs. The CBX property is also prospective for molybdenite, as sedimentary-hosted molybdenite and pyrite were identified in fractures in a quartzite outcrop on the property (SMDI 4890).
914, 914N and Elevator Projects:
The 914, 914N, and Elevator projects consist of four non-contiguous claims totalling 11,873 ha and are located 31 to 52 km south of the Athabasca Basin margin and 35 to 55 km south of Cameco’s Key Lake Operation (209.8 million pounds U3O8 produced at an average grade of 2.32%). All three projects are near Provincial Highway 914, which provides direct access to the southern part of the province, with the 914 Project situated 1 km east of Highway 914, the 914N Property situated 5 km east of Highway 914, and the Elevator Property situated 15 km east of Highway 914. Geological mapping of the properties and surrounding areas has shown that they are underlain by prospective Wollaston Supergroup metasedimentary gneisses and Archean granitic to tonalitic gneisses of the Western Wollaston Domain, which hosts significant uranium mineralization further to the north in the Athabasca Basin.
914, 914 N, and Elevator Projects Map:
https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/Sky_914_Elevator_20230330.jpg
Extensive work on the properties and in the surrounding area was conducted throughout the 1970’s and included magnetic, gravity, and EM surveys as well as geological mapping, prospecting, boulder, and sediment sampling programs. Modern work on the properties is more limited and includes partial coverage by an airborne VTEM survey, limited ground prospecting, and lake sediment sampling. An EM conductor was identified on the 914N property (AF 74A13-0036) and has yet to be drill tested; the remainder of the properties were not covered by the modern geophysical surveys. All four claims are situated on the edge of regional scale folds, as outlined by historical bedrock mapping conducted by the Saskatchewan Geological Survey. More recent regional airborne magnetic surveys show additional complexity that was not reflected in the historical bedrock mapping. While there are no uranium occurrences noted on the properties themselves, multiple uranium and REE showings are present in the area including the Sandra Lake (SMDI 1960), Key Lake Road (SMDIs 5250, 5251, 5253, 5254, 5257, and 5258), Karpinka Lake (SMDI 1974, 3100, 3101, 3103, 3104, 3105, 3106, 3107, and 3108), and Don Lake (SMDI 1961, 1982, 1983, and 1984) occurrences. Similar stratigraphy hosts significant uranium and thorium mineralization elsewhere in the Athabasca Basin.
Karin Project:
The Karin Project consists of five claims covering 18,383 ha approximately 20 km south-southeast of Cameco’s Key Lake operation. The property is approximately 21 to 33 km east of Highway 914 and is adjacent to Skyharbour’s Foster Project. The project is underlain by Wollaston Group metasedimentary gneisses, predominantly psammitic to meta-arkosic in composition but with localized prospective pelitic to psammopelitic gneisses. Despite lying outside the current extent of the Athabasca Basin, the Karin project was likely covered by the Athabasca Supergroup in its past, making the area prospective for unconformity-related uranium mineralization.
Karin Project Map:
https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/Sky_Karin_20230330.jpg
Exploration work on the project is primarily historical in nature and consists of airborne EM, magnetic, and radiometric surveys, lake water and sediment sampling, radon surveys, prospecting and ground-truthing of airborne anomalies, geological mapping, and diamond drilling in the late 1960’s to early 1980’s. This work was performed prior to modern geophysical surveys and the development of current uranium exploration models. Some minor EM anomalies on the property were noted in the historical airborne EM results, but they were ignored in favor of stronger EM anomalies elsewhere in the surveyed areas. Several radon anomalies in the eastern part of the project were discovered during radon sampling on the project and were followed up by drilling in 1978. Five shallow (<152 m) diamond drillholes were drilled, which intersected Wollaston Supergroup meta-arkose and semipelitic to pelitic gneisses, amphibolite and pegmatite to granodiorite, along with localized hematite, chlorite, epidote, and/or goethite alteration. A weakly radioactive pegmatite was intersected in historical hole 78-1 which returned 0.025% U3O8 over 0.45 m at a depth of 72.85 m (AF 74H03-0036). A limited amount of prospecting was completed in the area in 2008 and led to the discovery of an outcrop of pegmatite on the property which contained 181 ppm U, 205 ppm Nb, and 39 ppm Ta (SMDI 5179). The project has otherwise been unexplored since the 1980’s and is prospective for both intrusive-type and unconformity-related uranium deposits and intrusive-related REEs.
Other related developments from around the markets include:
Cameco Corporation and Bruce Power celebrate today the extension of their long-term exclusive nuclear fuel supply arrangements for an additional 10 years through to 2040. This inter-provincial collaboration secures decades of Canadian-made nuclear energy that is essential to building a path to net-zero, while creating good jobs and benefitting ratepayers. The new deal extends the exclusive fuel supply arrangements between Cameco and Bruce Power that were announced in 2017 and include provisions for Cameco to supply 100 per cent of Bruce Power’s uranium, conversion services and fuel fabrication requirements. The extension represents an estimated $2.8 billion in additional business between the companies from 2031 to 2040. The extension is consistent with Cameco’s balanced and disciplined contracting, which allows the company to align its production decisions with its contract portfolio and customer needs. The volumes under these new arrangements were included in the long-term contracting volumes disclosed by Cameco in February 2022.
Uranium Energy announced uranium mineralization in drill hole CB-183-1 that grades 7.90% eU3O8 over 14.3 metres, including a subinterval that grades 26.16% eU3O8 over 3.8 metres. This result expands the footprint of high-grade uranium mineralization at the Sakura Zone at the Christie Lake Project to the northeast approximately 14 metres from CB-178-1. Chris Hamel, Vice President Exploration, Canada stated: “The continued success at the Sakura Zone demonstrates the potential of the Yalowega Trend at Christie Lake to host high-grade uranium mineralization. We are eager to continue with exploration along this trend in the 2023 program. The Yalowega Trend is the northerly extension of the McArthur River fault system onto the Christie Lake Project and gives UEC the opportunity to explore along this uniquely well-endowed mineralized trend that only Cameco and Orano otherwise have access to.”
Denison Mines Corporation announced the successful completion of an internal conceptual mining study examining the potential application of the In-Situ Recovery mining method at the Company's 25.17% owned Midwest project. The Concept Study was prepared by Denison during 2022 and was formally issued to the Midwest Joint Venture in early 2023. Based on the positive results of the Concept Study, the MWJV has now provided Denison with approval to complete additional ISR-related evaluation work for Midwest in 2023. View PDF version. Midwest is located approximately 25 kilometres, by existing roads, from the 22.5% Denison owned McClean Lake uranium mill, and is a joint venture owned by Denison (25.17%) and Orano Canada Inc. (74.83%). Orano Canada is part of the Orano Group, which is recognized as a leading international operator in the field of nuclear materials, with activities including uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, and other fuel services.
Energy Fuels Inc, reported its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2022. At December 31, 2022, the Company had a robust balance sheet with $116.97 million of working capital, including $62.80 million of cash and cash equivalents, $12.19 million of marketable securities, $38.16 million of inventory, and no debt. At current commodity prices, the Company's product inventory has a value of $62.48 million; During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company incurred a net loss of $59.85 million or $0.38 per share, due in large part to: i) a non-cash mark-to-market loss on investments accounted for at fair value of $16.90 million; ii) increased expenses associated with preparing four(4) of our uranium mines for production; iii) development expenses associated with developing commercial rare earth element separation capabilities in addition to our existing mixed REE carbonate commercial production capabilities; (iv) expenses associated with advancing our medical isotope initiatives;(v) increased selling, general and administrative expenses arising from costs associated with acquiring the South Bahia monazite sand project in Brazil and costs associated with the sale of the Company's Alta Mesa in situ recovery project in Texas; and (vi) increased other selling, general and administrative expenses associated with significant additions to personnel, enhanced business processes, and other general and administrative expenses required to support all these increased levels of activity.
Legal Disclaimer / Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Winning Media is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Winning Media is only compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation. Pursuant to an agreement Winning Media has been paid three thousand five hundred dollars for advertising and marketing services for Skyharbour Resources Ltd. by Skyharbour Resources Ltd. We own ZERO shares of Skyharbour Resources Ltd. Please click here for disclaimer.
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