UUUU - This is Why Uranium Prices Could Rally Back to $100 this Year
Uranium prices could push even higher this year. All thanks to severe supply and demand issues. With demand, “Around 90 nuclear power plants are being planned, 61 are under construction and decommissioned nuclear reactors are being revived,” says Swiss Resource Capital. With supply, it could get even tighter, especially with the Russian uranium ban starting on August 11. After all, a ban on Russian uranium imports will easily shake up the global market, and could send prices back above $100 until more supply is online. All of which could fuel further upside in uranium stocks, such as Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSXV: SYH) (OTCQX: SYHBF), Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE: UEC), Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), Cameco Corp. (NYSE: CCJ) (TSX: CCO), and Denison Mines Corp. (NYSE: DNN) (TSX: DML).
Look at Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSXV: SYH) (OTCQX: SYHBF), For Example
Skyharbour Resources Ltd. announced assay results from its 2024 winter diamond drilling program which totaled 2,864 metres in nine holes at its 100% owned, 35,705 hectare Moore Uranium Project. The project is located approximately 15 kilometres east of Denison Mine’s Wheeler River project and proximal to regional infrastructure for Cameco’s Key Lake and McArthur River operations in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. A highlight from this program was from hole ML24-08 which intersected 5.0 metres of 4.61% U 3 O 8 from a relatively shallow downhole depth of 265.5 metres to 270.5 metres including 10.19% U 3 O 8 over 1.0 metre at the Main Maverick Zone. Skyharbour plans to continue advancing Moore through additional drilling in 2024 in conjunction with a fully-funded summer drill program to follow-up on the recently reported Fork target uranium discovery at the Company’s adjacent Russell Lake Uranium Project. The combined drill campaign this summer is planned to consist of approximately 7,000 - 8,000 metres with details forthcoming.
Moore Uranium Project Claims Map:
https://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/images/moore-project-map-20221012.jpg
Jordan Trimble, President and CEO of Skyharbour Resources, stated: “The drill results announced here demonstrate the high-grade, shallow endowment of uranium mineralization at the Main Maverick Zone. We continue to expand this main zone, and will be drilling this summer to further delineate the numerous high-grade zones of uranium on the Maverick Corridor taking advantage of regional infrastructure including the exploration camp at our adjacent Russell Lake project to bring our costs down. The multi-kilometre Maverick Corridor offers strong discovery potential along strike and at depth in the underlying basement rocks, and we also plan to test prospective regional targets that have had limited drill-testing historically. With the recent discovery of high-grade uranium mineralization at Russell in the Fork Zone, this has been an exciting season of drilling thus far for Skyharbour with much more news to come at both Moore and Russell as well as at the various partner-funded projects.”
Highlights:
- Hole ML24-08 is one of the better holes drilled at the Main Maverick Zone to date. It intersected an interval of high-grade mineralization grading 4.61% U 3 O 8 over 5.0m starting at 265.5m downhole including 3.0m of 7.30% U 3 O 8 and 1.0m of 10.19% U 3 O 8 , with up to 10.8% Ni.
- Hole ML24-03 intersected a broad interval of high-grade mineralization grading 1.11% U 3 O 8 over 11.5m starting at 266.8m downhole including 2.0 metres of 5.87% U 3 O 8 .
- All holes drilled in the Main Maverick Zone during the winter of 2024 intersected significant uranium mineralization with the goal of further expanding and delineating the known zone of mineralization.
- There remains expansion potential at both of the high-grade Main Maverick and Maverick East Zones. Furthermore, substantial portions of the 4.7 kilometre long Maverick corridor remain to be systematically drill-tested leaving robust discovery potential along strike as well as at depth in the basement rocks.
- Two exploratory holes drilled in the Grid 19 area tested the Slice Pond and 19 East Conductors and intersected structurally disrupted graphitic pelitic accompanied by significantly anomalous pathfinder element geochemistry.
- Preparation for a fully-funded 2,500 - 3,000 metre summer drill program at Moore focused at the Maverick Zones is underway, as is a follow-up 4,500 – 5,000 metre drill program at the Russell Lake Project where drilling at the newly discovered Fork Zone returned high-grade uranium mineralization hosted in the sandstone.
Summary of 2024 Winter Drilling Program at Moore:
Drilling on the Moore Project over the winter of 2024 totaled 2,864 metres in nine holes. Seven holes (ML24-01 to -04 and ML24-7 to -09) were drilled at the Main Maverick Zone and two holes were drilled on the Grid 19 target conductors (ML21-05 to -06).
Moore Uranium Project Regional Grid Targets Map:
http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/Moore-Lake-Property-Wide.jpg
Main Maverick Zone Drilling:
Seven holes totalling 2,221 metres were drilled at the Main Maverick Zone to better define and expand the shallow high-grade mineralized zone. All of these holes were drilled vertically and intersected significant uranium mineralization at the unconformity centred around 265.0 metres to 275.0 metres downhole depth. The majority of the high-grade uranium mineralization at the Main Maverick Zone is sandstone-hosted situated just above the unconformity.
Main Maverick Zone Drilling Map:
https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/Maverick-Main-Drilling-2024_Magnetics.jpg
The highlight was hole ML24-08, which intersected 5.0 metres of 4.61% U 3 O 8 between 265.5 metres and 270.5 metres depth including 3.0 metres of 7.30% U 3 O 8 between 266.0 metres to 269.0 metres depth. Another notable hole was ML 24-03, which intersected a broad interval of mineralization grading 1.11% U 3 O 8 over 11.5 metres between 266.8 metres to 278.3 metres depth, including 5.87% U 3 O 8 over 2.0 metres. The results of the drilling are reported in the following table:
*Grade Equivalent U 3 O 8 from downhole gamma probing
** Composite of Chemical and Grade Equivalent U 3 O 8
The geology and geochemistry of all the drill holes are typical of the Main Maverick Zone. The zone is characterized by a subvertical fault intersecting basement rocks consisting primarily of graphitic and non-graphitic pelitic gneiss along with Hudsonian and Archaean granites, accompanied by local pegmatite bodies. The overlying sandstone is typically intensely faulted, de-silicified, clay enriched and highly bleached with sooty pyrite and local silicification. The depth to the unconformity is approximately 270.0 metres where the sandstone and basement rocks are clay-altered to -replaced with uranium mineralization and with local intervals of basement-hosted uranium mineralization. The sandstone column is highly anomalous in Boron (?3,320 ppm B) with the basement rocks within and surrounding the mineralization highly anomalous in Vanadium (?5,990 ppm V) and Lead (?5,000 ppm Pb), as well as up to 14.7% Nickel and 1.77% Cobalt in an individual 0.5 metre mineralized sample in hole ML24-02 at 269.9 metres that also returned 1.18% U 3 O 8 . Furthermore, a 0.5 metre sample in hole ML24-08 intersected 10.8% Nickel along with 14.9% U 3 O 8 .
Grid Nineteen Drilling:
Two exploratory holes totalling 643.0 metres were drilled at the Grid 19 target area approximately 10km NE of the Maverick Zones, with one hole drilled on the Slice Pond Conductor (ML24-05) and the other hole on the 19 East conductor (ML24-06).
Grid 19 Zone Drilling Map:
https://www.skyharbourltd.com/_resources/images/Grid-Nineteen-2024-Winter-Drill-Map.jpg
Hole ML24-05 was drilled as a follow-up to the mineralization intersected in ML22-03 on the Slice Pond target at Grid-19. A moderately bleached, weakly fractured sandstone column was intersected down to the unconformity at 205.0 metres. Granitic gneiss, silicified metasediments and quartzite were intersected to 229.5 metres downhole, above locally faulted graphitic pelitic gneiss with accessory calc-silicate and iron formation down to 258.0 metres. Pink foliated granite and pegmatite was then intersected until the end of hole at 290.0 metres. The hole intersected encouraging pathfinder geochemistry including anomalous Cu (?668 ppm), Th (?140 ppm), V (?244 ppm) and B (?1080 ppm) within several of the graphitic faults.
Hole ML24-06 was drilled on the 19 East Conductor to follow-up on structurally disrupted graphitic gneisses and anomalous geochemistry previously encountered in ML21-08. Weakly to moderately bleached sandstone was drilled to 170.0 metres becoming moderately to strongly bleached and limonitic down to the unconformity at 193.2 metres. Bleached, hematized, and chloritized garnet-bearing granite was intersected until 211.8 metres followed by locally sheared and faulted graphitic metasediments intercalated with granite and accessory calc-silicate, amphibolite, and iron formation until the end of hole at 353.0 metres. Major graphitic structures were encountered within the basement and determined to be congruent with similar structures in ML21-08. Encouraging pathfinder geochemistry was identified within the graphitic shears, including anomalous B (?338 ppm), V (?185 ppm), Ni (?379 ppm) and Cu (?340 ppm).
2024 Summer and Fall Drilling Plans:
The Company is planning for an additional fully-funded 2,500 - 3,000 metres of drilling in seven to nine holes at the Main Maverick and Maverick East Zones to further expand, characterize and define the extents of the mineralized zones. Both of these high-grade zones are open along strike and at depth with less historical drilling testing the underlying basement rocks. This drilling will take place in conjunction with a 4,500 – 5,000 metre diamond drilling program at the adjacent Russell Lake Project, where the recently completed winter drilling program identified a significant new zone of uranium mineralization at the Fork Zone. Drill hole RSL24-02 in that program intersected 0.721% U 3 O 8 over 2.5 metres including 2.99% U 3 O 8 over 0.5 metres, approximately 500 metres from Highway 914. Both drilling programs will be run using the Company’s McGowan Lake camp on Highway 914 as a base of operations making exploration at both properties very cost effective.
Moore Uranium Project Overview:
In June 2016, Skyharbour secured an option to acquire Denison Mine's Moore Uranium Project, on the southeastern side of the Athabasca Basin, in northern Saskatchewan and has since fulfilled its earn in. The project consists of 12 contiguous claims totaling 35,705 hectares located 42 kilometres northeast of the Key Lake mill, approx. 15 kilometres east of Denison’s Wheeler River project, and 39 kilometres south of Cameco’s McArthur River uranium mine. Unconformity-hosted uranium mineralization was discovered on the Moore Project at the Maverick Zone with historical drill highlights consisting of 4.03% eU 3 O 8 over 10 metres, including 20% eU 3 O 8 over 1.4 metres, in ML-161. In 2017, Skyharbour announced drill results of 6.0% U 3 O 8 over 5.9 metres, including 20.8% U 3 O 8 over 1.5 metres at a vertical depth of 265 metres, in hole ML-199. In addition to the Main and East Maverick Zones, the project hosts other mineralized targets with strong discovery potential which the Company plans to test with future drill programs. The project is fully accessible via winter and ice roads which simplifies logistics and lowers costs. Large proportions of the property are accessible in the summer as well.
Moore Lake Uranium Project Geophysics Map:
http://skyharbourltd.com/_resources/maps/MooreLake-Basic-geo-revamp.jpg
QA/QC, Radiometric Equivalent Grades and Spectrometer Readings:
All drill intervals above are downhole length and sampling procedures and QA/QC protocols for geochemical results as well as a description of downhole gamma probe grade calculations and protocols are below. All drill core samples are shipped to the Saskatchewan Research Council Geoanalytical Laboratories (SRC) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan under the care of Skyharbour personnel for preparation, processing, and multi-element analysis by ICP-MS and ICP-OES using total (HF:NHO3:HClO4) and partial digestion (HNO3:HCl), boron by fusion, and U3O8 wt% assay by ICP-OES using higher grade standards. Assay samples are chosen based on downhole probing radiometric equivalent uranium grades and scintillometer (Radiation Solutions RS-125) peaks. Assay sample intervals comprise 0.5 metre continuous half-core split samples over the mineralized interval. These samples may also be selected for density determination using the lost wax method. With all assay samples, one half of the split sample is retained and the other sent to the SRC for analysis. The SRC is an ISO/IEC 17025/2005 and Standards Council of Canada certified analytical laboratory. Blanks, standard reference materials, and repeats are inserted into the sample stream at regular intervals by Skyharbour and the SRC in accordance with Skyharbour’s quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures. Geochemical assay data are subject to verification procedures by qualified persons employed by Skyharbour prior to disclosure.
During active exploration programs drillholes are radiometrically logged using calibrated downhole Mount Sopris HLP-2375 or 2GHF probes of varying sensitivities which collect continuous readings along the length of the drillhole. Preliminary radiometric equivalent uranium grades (“eU 3 O 8 ”) are then calculated from the downhole radiometric results. The probe is calibrated using an algorithm calculated from the calibration of the probe at the Saskatchewan Research Council facility in Saskatoon and from the comparison of probe results against geochemical analyses. In the case where core recovery within a mineralized intersection is poor or non-existent, radiometric grades are considered to be more representative of the mineralized intersection and may be reported in the place of assay grades. Radiometric equivalent probe results are subject to verification procedures by qualified persons employed by Skyharbour prior to disclosure.
Other related developments from around the markets include:
Uranium Energy’s Andy Kurrus, UEC V.P. of Resource Development, Texas, just said: “Since the initial discovery at Burke Hollow, we’ve continued to increase resources with every drilling campaign and update. We have identified several mineralized trends and horizons for potential resource growth and nearly half of the ~20,000 acre Burke Hollow property remains under-explored. Burke Hollow is the largest ISR uranium discovery in the United States in the past decade and will be an exciting satellite project as part of our hub-and-spoke strategy.”
Energy Fuels’ CEO Mark S. Chalmers recently noted, “ Energy Fuels maintained our momentum from 2023, by reporting continued profitability in Q1-2024, driven mainly by uranium. We also continued to make extraordinary progress diversifying into the complementary HMS and rare earth oxide businesses. During the quarter, we made profitable uranium sales into our portfolio of long-term utility contracts, and we completed two opportunistic spot sales averaging nearly $103 per pound of U 3 O 8 , enabled by our significant uranium inventories backed by our near-term low-cost uranium production capacity. From these sales, we maintained high gross margins, averaging roughly 56%, contributed to in large part by our low-cost alternate feed material and other historic uranium production which we have maintained in inventory pending increased uranium prices such as we see today.”
Saskatchewan Power Corporation (SaskPower), Westinghouse Electric Company (Westinghouse) and Cameco Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to evaluate the potential of Westinghouse’s nuclear reactor technology and the associated nuclear fuel supply chain required for Saskatchewan’s future clean power needs. The MOU will explore technical and commercial pathways to deploy Westinghouse’s reactor technology, including the advanced AP1000® reactor and AP300™ small modular reactor (SMR), for long-term electricity supply planning. The framework includes evaluation of a Saskatchewan-based nuclear supply chain to support nuclear energy projects, including fuel. It also identifies opportunities to collaborate on nuclear research, development and workforce training in partnership with Saskatchewan’s post-secondary institutions.
Denison Mines completed the inaugural In-Situ Recovery field test program at Denison's 25.17% owned Midwest Uranium Project. The Program involved drilling 10 small diameter boreholes within the Midwest Main deposit primarily undertaken to evaluate site-specific conditions for ISR mining. A series of tests were successfully performed on each borehole, creating an extensive database of geological, hydrogeological, geotechnical, and metallurgical data and validating certain key assumptions in the previously completed internal conceptual mining study evaluating the potential use of ISR mining at Midwest. Denison carried out the Program in collaboration with Orano Canada.
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