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ESO/FISSION PATTERSON LAKE SOUTH JV REPORTS HIGH GRADE BOULDERS UP TO 39.6% U3O8
ESO Uranium Corp. (ESO) and its 50% Joint Venture (JV) partner Fission Energy Corp (TSX-V:FIS), announce results from its boulder prospecting and radon survey program. A total of seventy-four (74) boulder and mineralized soil samples were submitted for assay with the boulders ranging in size from gravel material to mineralized cobbles and boulders up to 45 X 35 X 30 cm.
Highlights of the results are as follows:
- Twenty-five (25) high grade boulders with grades over 10% U3O8 are reported with highest grade assaying at 39.6 % U3O8 from a cobble 5 X 4 X 4 cm. The largest boulder sampled assayed 25.7% U308 and was > 40 cm in its longest dimension from a partially recovered block at depth of 90 cm.
- Twenty-three (23) boulders assayed between 1.0% U308 to 10% U3O8.
A complete summary of the uranium assays, boulder sizes and sample depths and a location map can be found on the Company�s website: http://www.esouranium.com
The uranium boulder field has now been traced for a north-south length of approximately 5 km and is up to 0.9 km wide. This large distribution of mineralized boulders may represent debris from more than one mineralized source from the up-ice direction. Analysis of previous exploration reports from the Cluff Lake mines area suggests an up-ice distance from the uranium boulder field to the former open pit mines of 2-3 kilometers, and that the boulders were transported in an east-northeast direction. The largest boulders in the new discovery are located close to this distance (3 km) on the down�ice direction from the Patterson Conductor Corridor, where conductors identified from historical airborne and ground surveys appear to be disrupted by cross structure(s). Radon anomalies are located both over the boulder field and over a target area near Patterson Lake, also in close proximity to the disruption area in the Conductor Corridor.
Garrett Ainsworth, Project Manager for ESO, comments: � We are taking advantage of two additional tools in the search for the source of the uranium, the first is the general relationship of the distance of such uranium boulder fields from source indicated in similar glaciated areas such as the Cluff Lake mine. We also found in earlier studies there that the dimensions of the boulder fields and the uranium grades appear to reflect the size and grade of the original source(s). The second tool has been the use of radon gas surveys. Radon is a radioactive gas, only produced by the natural decay of uranium, that will diffuse through permeable rocks and soils to the surface above. This is the closest to a direct measurement of a buried uranium target that we have. Radon is very soluble in water and movement of an aquifer over the origin of the radon can displace it from the source area further than the vertical flux rates in unsaturated soils. This is another challenge that can be resolved with drilling and a knowledge of local hydrology�
The composition of the rock types in the boulder train indicates that the source mineralization may be a basement hosted system in an area where the Athabasca sedimentary rocks have been scraped away by ice action. The depth to the basement is expected to be less than 100 meters in the project area. The substantial size of many of the well mineralized boulders, which can be easily crushed to sand and gravel sized material, suggests that the travel distance from source could be comparable to the Cluff Lake Mine area, located 80 km to the north of the Patterson Lake South boulder field discovery.
Mr. Paul Ramaekers, P.Geol. and Mr. Roger Thomas, P.Geol., have acted as consultants to the project. With a combined 80 years experience in glacial geology and transport processes, their primary task has been to provide guidance in retracing the ice direction to locate the source of the anomalous boulders. The JV�s technical team are reviewing the current data sets in order to plan the next phase of work, which will include ground geophysics focusing on the east-northeast trending conductors as a possible source, trenching within the boulder field, and establishing drill targets for a fall-winter 2011 program.
The boulder and soil samples were analysed by SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories (an SCC ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 Accredited Facility) of Saskatoon for analysis, which included a 63 element ICP-OES, uranium by fluorimetry (partial digestion). The partial analysis of uranium is done to make an initial check on the availability of the contained uranium in the sample for extraction by conventional metallurgical technology.
The uranium assays should not be averaged to determine the average grade of the boulder field as each sample represents a point sample located with a scintillometer and hand digging to excavate the sample. These samples are surrounded by large amounts of unmineralized material. The area of the boulder field is expected to be very much larger than the source area of the mineralization.
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Benjamin Ainsworth, PEng BC/SK, BC Licence #8648; SK Member #14548 who is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical disclosure in this news release
�Ben Ainsworth�
Vice President, Exploration
For corporate communications please contact:
ESO Uranium Corp.
Vancouver, BC
Phone: (604) 629-0293
Toll Free: 1-866-629-8368
Email: info@esouranium.com
THIS NEWS RELEASE WAS PREPARED BY MANAGEMENT WHO TAKES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS. THE TSX-VENTURE EXCHANGE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release includes certain statements that express management�s expectation or estimates of future performance and may be deemed �forward-looking statements�. These forward-looking statements include plans, estimates, forecasts and statements as to management�s expectations regarding the Marietta Property. These forward-looking statements involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary materially. For these reasons shareholders should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information.
United States residents are cautioned that some of the information that may be published by ESO Uranium Corp. may not be consistent with United States Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules and may be materially different from what the Company is permitted to disclose in the United States and therefore United States residents should not rely on such information.
View The News Release At:
http://www.esouranium.com/index.php/news-mainmenu-3/news-2011/117-esofission-patterson-lake-south-jv-reports-high-grade-boulders-up-to-396-u3o8
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