ESO Uranium Corp.& Hathor Exploration Limited
ESO Drills Radioactive Intervals in Eight Drill Holes Testing Radon Anomalies on The Carswell Project Near the former Cluff Lake Mine, West Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan
Vancouver, Canada (ots/PRNewswire)
ESO Uranium Corporation (TSX-V: ESO), the Company, announces with Hathor Exploration Limited (TSX-V: HAT) that 21 holes have been completed in the current drill program being operated under the new joint venture between the Companies. Two drill holes have intersected radioactive intervals in the area East of Bridle Lake, close to a percussion hole drilled by Mokta ( an Areva predecessor company) that reported 0.11% (equivalent) uranium oxide over 1.5 meters at a shallow, 41 meters depth.
6 holes, of a further 7 holes, have intersected radioactive intervals in an area of a radon anomaly 1.5 kms east of Bridle Lake. The best interval thickness was in the second group of drill holes and was approximately 8 meters wide with average gamma probe results comparable to the level encountered in the two holes close to the Mokta hole discussed above. These drill intersections are all located on a claim adjoining the Cluff Lake mining lease of Areva.
The first two holes were designed to test possible extensions of mineralization indicated by the earlier Mokta Bridle Lake drilling, in an area that had been identified by prospecting and radon surveys. The second segment of the current drill program is testing an area with radon anomalies, described in assessment reports by Mokta, which is over 300 meters long across the main direction of ice movement during the last glacial period. According to available records, Mokta did not drill test these anomalies.
The widest radioactive intersection is in drill hole BR-18 in the eastern radon anomaly and has a width of approximately 8 meters with an approximate average of 3500 counts per sec (cps). This width may not be a true width but the bottom of the intersection terminates against a fault structure which opens the possibility of a larger total original width of mineralization. Below the fault the radioactivity drops immediately to background levels of about 50 cps.
A higher level of radioactivity was reported in the probe chart of drill hole BR-18 at 41 meters hole depth. This interval was about 10,300 cps over an interval of 15 cms width. The radioactive intercepts in 5 holes contiguous with BR-18, BR-15 through BR-19 and BR-21, were in the 10 to 15 mm width range with probe values in the range of 1750 to 3500 cps at depths of 80 to 110 meters down hole. The gamma probe used in the drill holes has not been calibrated sufficiently to allow an estimate of grade at this time.
The radioactive intersections have been identified both with a hand held scintillometer check of drill core and by probing the drill holes with a Mt Sopris total counts gamma probe. The rocks containing the radioactivity have a characteristic strong red haematization of feldspars in a coarse-grained, sub-pegmatitic phase of basement rocks. These results encourage further drilling of the radon anomaly area and deeper testing beneath drill holes with significant alteration. The samples have been split and forwarded to Loring Laboratories in Calgary to be assayed for uranium and gold.
The Carswell Project includes mineral tenure that adjoins the former producer, Cluff Lake Mines, and covers more than 67,000 acres (27,000 hectares) of prospective uranium exploration lands. Cluff Lake Mines produced more than 60 million pounds of uranium oxide during the period 1980 to 2002. More than 8,000 ounces of gold were produced in the last 3-4 years of the mining operation, before decommissioning and achieving ISO 14001 environmental classification. The Cluff Lake mineralization, with an average grade in the order of 0.85% (17 lbs per ton) uranium oxide, was much shallower than that of most of the other Athabasca Basin mines and was mined mainly by a number of small open pit mines and a few shallow underground mines.
The Carswell Structure is considered by many geologists to be an astrobleme impact site. The comet or meteorite that crashed into this part of the Athabasca sedimentary basin is believed to have punched right through the sedimentary rocks and, on the rebound of the rocks after the impact, the basement rocks beneath the sediments were lifted up to the present day surface. This very energetic process is similar to what can be observed at a smaller scale when a stone is thrown into a mud puddle and the mud splashes upwards after the initial impact of the stone.
Towards the rim of the Carswell impact site, the sand stone was also displaced upwards and outwards and in some areas the original basement rocks can overlie sandstones of the younger Athabasca Basin formations. It is this displacement that positioned the basement contact type mineralization and its roots close to the present day surface. The target environment being explored would be similar to the root zone of a typical Athabasca Basin uranium deposit such as found in the nearby Shea Creek type mineralization.
For reference, the current spot price quoted by uxc.com for uranium oxide is US$90 per pound of U3O8; an assay reported as 1.0% of U3O8 is equal to 20 pounds of uranium oxide per short ton - the conversion of percent metal or metal oxide from percent to pounds per short ton is done by multiplying the % value by 20.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of ESO Uranium Corp.
"Ben Ainsworth"
Vice President, Exploration
Please refer to the ESO Uranium website for further and updated information.
The Toronto Venture Exchange has not reviewed nor accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this news release which has been prepared by management. Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements as that term is defined in the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. Such forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from estimated results. Such risks and uncertainties are detailed in the Company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Trading Symbol TSX-V - ESO
Frankfurt - E2G
Contact:
For further information: For corporate communications please contact:
Tom Corcoran or Bob Meister, ESO Uranium Corp., Vancouver, BC, Phone:
+1-(604)-629-0293, Toll Free: 1-866-629-0293, Email:
info@esouranium.com/