Atco Mining Launches Drilling at Atlantic Uranium Project
Vancouver, British Columbia -- February 27th, 2024 -- NewsGenie -- Atco Mining Inc. has started drilling at its Atlantic Uranium Project in the eastern Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan. The 3,061-hectare project is a joint venture with Standard Uranium Ltd., where Atco can earn a 75% interest over three years.
Figure 1. Regional summary map of the Atlantic Project highlighting nearby uranium occurrences, historical drill holes, geophysical anomalies, and EM conductors.
Standard Uranium's team arrived on site February 26th, initiating the inaugural drilling program. The first hole will test high-priority target area A, investigating a density anomaly coinciding with modeled electromagnetic conductors and interpreted faults. Further drilling will follow up on anomalous uranium results and a major structure intersected in previous drill hole BL-16-32. The program plans for 2,000-3,000 metres across 4-6 drill holes, targeting high-grade unconformity-related uranium mineralization. Atco considers uranium mineralization with concentrations greater than 1.0 wt% U3O8 to be "high-grade".
CEO Etienne Moshevich stated the company is excited to begin the drill program and looks forward to updating investors on progress.
Figure 2. Geophysical map of the western Atlantic claim block, highlighting drill hole BL-16-32 and key geophysical features defining high-priority target areas A and B. Residual gravity-low anomalies are shown at the unconformity depth slice. Target area A will be the focus of the winter 2024 drill program.
The winter program follows Standard Uranium's identification of high-priority targets in 2022-2023. The project covers 6.5 km of an 18 km long conductive exploration trend. A 2022 ground gravity survey revealed subsurface density anomalies, potentially representing hydrothermal alteration zones.
The drill program will follow up on uranium results from drill hole BL-16-32 and test gravity lows defined by the 2022 survey. Drilling by Denison Mines in 2016 identified 342 ppm uranium over 0.5 metres near target area A, which is defined by a density anomaly coinciding with EM conductors and a regional fault.
Neil McCallum, a director of both Atco Mining and Standard Uranium, has reviewed and approved the technical information in the release.
Atco Mining is focused on exploring for green energy metals throughout Canada and salt opportunities in Western Newfoundland. More information is available at www.atcomining.com.