Benzinga - by The Critical Metals Report, Benzinga Contributor.
Source: Streetwise Reports 05/31/2024
Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (OTC: SYHBF) announced partner Azincourt Energy Corp. (OTC: AZURF) has completed its 2024 winter drilling program at the East Preston uranium project in the Athabascan Basin of Saskatchewan.
The program consisted of 1,086 meters of diamond drilling in four holes to follow up on the clay alteration zone and elevated uranium identified at the project in the winter of 2023, Skyharbour said.
All holes intersected hydrothermal alteration with the best alteration intersected in the last two holes of the program, the company said.
"The extension of the clay alteration halos in the K and H zones is a very good sign" said Azincourt Vice President Exploration Trevor Perkins. "Knowing the extent of the halos and the types of clay present are important steps in identifying and prioritizing follow-up drill targets. All indications are that we are vectoring in on something."
Hole EP0059, completed on Zone K, was targeted to follow up on kaolinite and dravite clay intersections and elevated uranium from 2023 in holes EP0049 and EP0055.
Patchy white clay alteration was intersected within several structural zones in the core, the company said. EP0060 was completed on the south end of Zone H to follow up clay intersections and graphitic lithologies from 2023 in the southern portion of Zone H. This hole intersected moderate to strong white clay within zones of structure and intense fracturing. Analysis of the clay species is in progress.
"The more we see, the better the team is getting at identifying which halos are the important ones to chase" Perkins said. "A significant number of deposits in the Athabasca Basin have been found by identifying and chasing these types of clay alteration patterns."
Skyharbour retains a minority interest with a 9.5% ownership in the East Preston Project, with Azincourt owning 85.8% and Dixie Gold owning the remaining 4.7%.
Azincourt Is an Explorer and a Partner
The primary target area on East Preston is the conductive corridors from the A zone through to the G zone (A-G trend) and the K zone through to the H and Q zones (K-H-Q trend), Skyharbour said.The selection of these trends is based on results from ground-based electromagnetic and gravity surveys done from 2018 to 2020, property wide VTEM and magnetic surveys, and drill programs completed in 2019 through 2022, the company said. A 2020 HLEM survey also indicated multiple prospective conductors and structural complexity along these corridors.
A total of 53 geochemical samples were collected at East Preston and were sent to the Geoanalytical Laboratory at the Saskatchewan Research Council in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for analysis. Final assay results are forthcoming.
The company said samples of clay alteration were collected for analysis by Short Wavelength Infrared Reflectance (SWIR, sometimes referred to as "PIMA") to confirm the clay species. Thirty-four samples were collected from current drillholes and 20 samples were collected from previous drill holes.
Skyharbour has an extensive portfolio of uranium exploration projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin, with 29 projects, 10 of which are drill-ready, covering over 587,000 hectares of mineral claims. In addition to being a high-grade uranium exploration company, Skyharbour utilizes a prospect generator strategy by bringing in partner companies to advance its secondary assets.
Other Skyharbour partner companies include Orano Canada, Thunderbird Resources Ltd. (OTC: VOYRF) (Previously Valor Resources Ltd.), Basin Uranium Corp. (OTC: BURCF), and Medaro Mining Corp. (OTC: MEDAF). More recently, two earn-in option agreements were signed with Tisdale Clean Energy Corp. (OTC: TCEFF) to option the South Falcon East project, as well as North Shore Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: NSU.V) to option the Falcon project.
The company has an additional 20 100%-owned projects that it is actively seeking to option out to potential new partners in the future to add to its growing prospect generator business.
"Any kind of exploration success in the Athabasca Basin will be met with voluminous demand, so the upside leverage is potentially explosive" Michael Ballanger of GGM Advisory Inc. wrote about Skyharbour in January.
The Catalyst: A Key Element for Clean Energy
President Joe Biden recently signed a ban on American imports of Russian uranium, a measure that has already shaken up the market. Spot prices per ounce went up nearly 7% from March and were up to US$91.75 last week.A key element in the ongoing clean energy revolution. Yahoo Finance! predicted that "Uranium's Third Bull Market Set to Shine in 2024" pointing out some key catalysts for the yellow element, including rising electricity prices, increased volume in investment funds, and lower inventory.
Some believe that uranium can go even higher this year. A recent article from The Motley Fool stated, "In 2007, uranium prices topped out at around US$140 per pound, an 80% premium to today's prices. If the global demand and supply gap widens further, it's not difficult to see prices exceeding those previous highs."
Demand for uranium in nuclear reactors is expected to climb 28% by 2030 and nearly double by 2040 as governments ramp up nuclear power capacity to meet zero-carbon targets, the World Nuclear Association said in a report, according to Reuters.
The report added that interest in nuclear power has also risen since the invasion of Ukraine as many nations want alternatives to Moscow's fuel supplies.
"From the beginning of the next decade, planned mines and prospective mines, in addition to increasing quantities of unspecified supply, will need to be brought into production" Reuters quoted from the report.
Ownership and Share Structure
Management, insiders, and close business associates own approximately 5% of the company.According to Reuters, President and CEO Jordan Trimble owns 1.54%, and Director David Cates owns 0.70%.
Institutional, corporate, and strategic investors own approximately 55% of the company. Denison Mines owns 6.3%, Rio Tinto owns 2.0%, Extract Advisors LLC owns 9%, Alps Advisors Inc. owns 9.91%, Mirae Asset Global Investments (U.S.A) L.L.C. owns 6.29%, Sprott Asset Management L.P. owns 1.5%, and Incrementum AG owns 1.18%, Reuters reported.
There are 182.53 million shares outstanding with 177.73 million free float traded shares, while the company has a market cap of CA$83.96 million and trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.33 and CA$0.64.
Important Disclosures: