CanAlaska Assays Confirm High-Grade Uranium at Pike Zone on West McArthur Joint Venture
Drillhole WMA082-6 Intersected 9.6 metres at 14.9% U3O8 and Drillhole WMA082-4 Intersected 14.5 metres at 9.9% U3O8
Management Attending Investor Clubhouse at the RBC Open June 1, 2024
Vancouver, Canada, May 29, 2024 – CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSX-V: CVV; OTCQX: CVVUF; Frankfurt: DH7) (“CanAlaska” or the “Company”) is pleased to report that it has received assay results from the drillholes completed on the Pike Zone during the winter of 2024. Geochemical assay results confirm composited high-grade intersections highlighted by WMA082-6 grading 14.9% U3O8 over 9.6 metres, and WMA082-4 grading 9.9% U3O8 over 14.5 metres. Drilling at the Pike Zone was completed as part of the ongoing winter exploration program on the West McArthur Joint Venture project (the “Project”) in the eastern Athabasca Basin. The West McArthur project, a Joint Venture with Cameco Corporation, is operated by CanAlaska that holds an 83.35% ownership in the Project (Figure 1). CanAlaska is sole-funding the 2024 West McArthur program, further increasing its majority ownership in the Project.
CanAlaska CEO, Cory Belyk, comments, “Assay confirmation of the very high-grade uranium mineralization encountered at Pike Zone in the winter program is a critical step in evaluating the next steps for the project and the joint venture. The CanAlaska team will focus on expanding the known zone of unconformity-associated high-grade uranium during the upcoming summer drilling program scheduled to commence in early June. We remain confident Pike Zone is a potential tier one mineralizing event based on proven grade and thickness of uranium intersected at the unconformity, associated deep basement mineralized roots, and structure and alteration features observed in core at Pike Zone and elsewhere along the target corridor. Based on other eastern Athabasca Basin high-grade uranium deposit analogues such as McArthur River, Pike Zone could be just one of several pearls on a string.”
2024 Winter Drill Program
The Company is pleased to announce completion of the 2024 winter drill program on the West McArthur project. The 2024 winter program was focused on continued expansion of the Pike Zone discovery and along strike unconformity testing to the northeast and southwest of the Pike Zone. During the drill program, eight unconformity target tests were completed for a total of 6,201 metres. All three drillholes (WMA082-4, WMA082-5, WMA082-6) completed on the Pike Zone intersected uranium mineralization. The mineralization in drillholes WMA082-4 and WMA082-6 represent the highest-grade mineralized intersections drilled to date on the West McArthur project.
Geochemical assay results confirm that drillhole WMA082-4 intersected one main composited interval of 7.4% U3O8 over 19.5 metres, including 9.9% U3O8 over 14.5 metres, followed by several additional mineralization intervals down hole (Table 1). The mineralization in WMA082-4 is characterized by massive to semi-massive, blebby, disseminated, clay-hosted, and fracture-controlled uranium mineralization associated with yellow and orange uranium secondaries at the contact between the Athabasca sandstone and the underlying basement rocks. The mineralized intervals are hosted within a broad zone of intense clay and chlorite alteration, resulting in complete replacement of the original rock fabric and textures. Intervals of no core recovery, due to poor ground conditions, were intersected within the WMA082-4 mineralized intersection. In intervals of no core recovery, downhole radiometric equivalent uranium grades, calculated based on an updated radiometric equivalent grade curve that has been correlated against geochemical assay results obtained during the winter drill program, are inserted in place of missing core and reported as part of the larger composited interval (Table 1).
Geochemical assay results confirm that drillhole WMA082-6 intersected one main composited interval of 12.9% U3O8 over 11.1 metres, including 14.9% U3O8 over 9.6 metres, followed by an additional mineralized interval down hole (Table 2). The mineralization in WMA082-6 is hosted directly at the unconformity contact between the Athabasca sandstone and the underlying basement rocks and is characterized by massive to semi-massive and nodular uranium mineralization associated with yellow and orange uranium secondaries and hematite alteration. Uranium mineralization continues into the basement rocks of WMA082-6 and is characterized by nodular, disseminated, clay-hosted, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled veinlets of uranium mineralization associated with localized pale-yellow uranium secondaries and strong basement alteration. One interval of no core recovery was intersected within the WMA082-6 mineralized intersection. In this interval of no core recovery, downhole radiometric equivalent uranium grades, calculated based on an updated radiometric equivalent grade curve that has been correlated against geochemical assay results obtained during the winter drill program, are inserted in place of missing core and reported as part of the larger composited interval (Table 2).