NickelX expands Elliot Lake uranium project as exploration starts

NickelX has increased the Elliot Lake uranium by 51km2 to 180km2 and has started field reconnaissance work.

NickelX’s acquisition of the 51km2 Blind River Block has expanded its Elliot Lake project up to 180km2. Pic: Getty Images

• NickelX expands Elliot Lake uranium project by 51km² through acquisition of the Blind River Block

• Mapping, sampling and drill hole siting has started over high priority uranium targets

• Company has also started stakeholder and First Nations engagement in anticipation of future drill programs

Special Report: NickelX has expanded the scale of its Elliot Lake uranium project in Ontario, Canada, with the acquisition of 11 multi-cell claims – the Blind River Block – that cover 51km² of highly prospective ground.

Prior to the acquisition of Blind River Block, Elliot Lake covered 129km² across the Kilpatrick, Inspiration, Quirke West and Whiskey claim blocks within the Elliot Lake district of Ontario, which produced 362Mlbs of U3O8 from 13 underground mines active between 1955 and 1996.

NickelX’s (ASX:NKL) recent desktop studies and reprocessing of geophysical data has identified multiple high priority uranium targets, all which are located within broad domains of interpreted and demonstrated uranium prospectivity where uranium anomalism and mineralisation have been identified by previous explorers.

From these, a first pass geological review identified three priority target areas, two of which host known mineralisation, over a combined 35km strike of prospective tenure.

The highest priority target – the Crazy Lake Gods Lake trend (at Quirke West) – sits along strike from the large, historical Quirke No 1 mine ~14km to the east, which had exploited uranium-bearing conglomerate beds 13km long and up to 5.5km wide.

The other two targets are the Gaitwin-Inspiration trend (at the Inspiration claim block) and Iron Lake trend (at Kilpatrick) where limited drilling identified uranium occurrences.

Elliot Lake has excellent year-round access, is close to infrastructure and service centres, electrical and water supplies as well as the world’s largest commercial uranium refinery at Blind River operated by Cameco.

The expanded Elliot Lake uranium project. Pic: NickelX

Field reconnaissance underway

Along with the acquisition of the Blind Lake claim block, which takes Elliot Lake up to 180km², NKL has also started a field reconnaissance program that includes mapping, sampling and drill hole siting targeting the high priority targets.

The targeted uranium mineralisation style is stratabound and consequently relatively continuous and predictable. Known deposits typically have excellent lateral and downdip grade and thickness continuity, providing potential for large-scale deposits.

Meanwhile, the company has begun stakeholder and First Nations engagement in anticipation of future drill programs.

“NickelX is excited by the potential of the Elliot Project which has known uranium occurrences within its large licence holdings and is located close to historic and large-scale uranium mining operations,” chairman Jonathan Downes said.

He added that while the project area had been overlooked in recent times, it represented “an incredible opportunity to revitalise NickelX”.

“In conjunction with the expansion of Elliot Lake Uranium Project and commencement of exploration activities, NickelX is pleased to have secured a highly regarded and uranium experienced managing director, Mr. Peter (Pete) Woods,” Downes said.

“NickelX is primed for a major turnaround with a tight capital structure, low enterprise value, technical team and proven MD, the leverage is extremely attractive.”

This article was developed in collaboration with NickelX, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as NickelX expands Elliot Lake uranium project as exploration starts