February 14 2007 – Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSX:PTU.V) announced today that it has completed a detailed helicopter borne VTEM survey over the entire Red Willow property and has received all assays from the till and boulder sampling completed during Fall 2006. Results have delineated 9 discrete exploration targets on the property including 4 zones of radioactive boulders. Boulder sampling succeeded in extending the historic Long Lake boulder train zone further up-ice and returned assays up to 11,000 ppm U (1.30% U3O8). These new boulders were found buried within basal glacial till which indicates they were derived from a nearby source. Three additional zones of radioactive boulders were discovered proximal to newly defined EM conductors and returned assays up to 9670 ppm U (1.14% U3O8).
The detection of similar radioactive boulder trains was instrumental in the discovery of the Rabbit Lake Mine (located 17 kms due south of Red Willow), the Key Lake Mine and the Cluff Lake Mine.
“Initial interest in this property stemmed from its regional geological setting” said Scott Frostad, Vice President Exploration, Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. “A straight line can be drawn through the Millennium, McArthur, Cigar, Midwest and JEB ore bodies and then right though this property. The results of our new surveys coupled with the numerous historic uranium showings make this region every bit as promising as our Turnor Lake project.”
Highlights:
- Over 20 kilometers of previously untested EM conductors were outlined by the airborne VTEM survey;
- Long Lake is coincident with a strong EM anomaly and believed to be the source of radioactive boulders (up to 1.30% U3O8) and uranium enrichment in till down-ice of the lake;
- An EM conductor has been outlined immediately up-ice of overburden hole #333 (Gulf Minerals, 1973) that intersected values up to 0.31% U3O8 in the till;
- A refinement of the EM conductor at Radon Lake, a waterbody with high concentrations of radon, indicates previous drilling did not adequately test this target;
- Three new zones of radioactive boulders named the Biotite Boulders, Lyon Lake, and Long Lake North Zones, returned maximum assays of 1.14% U3O8, 1.02% U3O8 and 0.27% U3O8, respectively;
- Three new claims have been staked to cover an EM anomaly discovered during the VTEM airborne survey;
- Two field camps are currently operating at Red Willow to allow line cutting, electromagnetic, induced polarization and gravity surveys to be conducted over target areas in preparation for drilling.
The Red Willow Project
The Red Willow project consists of eight claims on the eastern edge of the Athabasca Basin. Proterozoic sandstone on the property is found to cover the Archean and Aphebian basement rocks at depths of 0 to 80 metres. The basement is composed of intensely deformed and metamorphosed sedimentary, volcanic and plutonic rocks trending NE to SW. Five major uranium deposits, JEB, Midwest, Cigar Lake, McArthur River and Millennium, are located along a NE to SW mine trend that extends through the Red Willow Project.
High Priority Exploration Targets
Q Conductors
Cameco originally tested the Q1 and Q2 Conductors in 1993 and intersected anomalous radioactivity ranging from 450 cps to 1660 cps. The uranium mineralization was intersected at less than 90 metres depth within one of two vertically dipping graphitic, pyritic, structurally disrupted pelitic units. Cameco’s geophysical survey results suggested the conductors terminated a short distance (200 m) south of their drill holes and did not conduct follow-up drilling. In 2005, Purepoint conducted an EM survey that showed the graphitic units intersected by Cameco abruptly change direction and continue untested for a total strike length of 1.4 kilometres. The apparent curvature of these two conductive units suggests a zone of structural complexity and a possible trap for uranium-rich fluids.
Petrel Lake Zone
The Petrel Lake Zone is a three square kilometre zone of flat-lying conductivity that was outlined during Purepoint’s 2005 EM survey and may represent hydrothermal alteration. The flat-lying conductivity, which partially underlies Petrel Lake, is associated with the untested extension of the radioactive Q conductors.
Osprey Conductor
The Osprey Conductor underlies the northern end of Osprey Lake and was tested in 1979 by Gulf Minerals by two holes (OS-11 and OS-12). These holes were located east of Osprey Lake and encountered 55 m of Athabasca sandstone followed by 25 m of graphite/pyrite. Current EM results by Purepoint indicate this conductor is faulted west of Osprey Lake and has a basement step of 100 to 150 metres. The MacArthur River Deposit, one of the world’s largest uranium mines, was formed at the site of a 70 metre basement down drop that likely acted as a dam to mineralized fluids.
Radon Lake Zone
Interest in the area began in 1971 due to high concentrations of radon found in the surface water. Radon is a radioactive gaseous element formed by the decay of radium. The area was also found to have anomalous radioactivity in the overburden. In 1979, six holes were drilled at the south-west tip of Radon Lake with little success but in 1981, three holes (Rad-10, 11 and 12) located north-west of Radon Lake all intersected graphite with the best result being 0.009% U3O8 over 1.0 metre. The 2006 VTEM survey by Purepoint indicates that the graphitic zone is one kilometer in length and has only been tested at its northern end (Rad-10, 11 and 12). The average thickness of the Athabasca sandstone overlying the basement rock was 68 metres.
Long Lake Zone
A radioactive boulder field was discovered on the Red Willow property in 1975 by Gulf Minerals. By 1984, Eldorado Resources had determined the boulder field was a part of a boulder train that they named the Long Lake Boulder Train. A number of radioactive biotite schist boulders were discovered and assayed up to 0.80% U3O8 while pegmatite boulders assayed up to 0.55% U3O8. The 2006 prospecting by Purepoint widened the original boulder train and extended it one kilometer further up-ice (i.e., closer to the source from which the glacier pushed these rocks). Radioactive boulders buried within the glacial till were found to be more abundant up-ice indicating the source of these rocks is nearby. These radioactive boulders encompass a variety of lithologies that range from massive amphibolite through to biotite schist, felsic gneiss and pegmatites. The highest uranium value was returned from a metasediments assaying 11,000 ppm U (1.30% U3O8).
333 Zone
The best results from a regional overburden drill program conducted by Gulf Minerals in the 1970’s were returned from the Red Willow property. Over 350 holes were drilled along NW-SE lines and in Hole #333, values up to 0.31% U3O8 were obtained. Since the radioactive zone was quite thick and not found in the neighbouring holes, the source is implied to be relatively local. Although Gulf recommended that additional overburden drilling be conducted to trace the uranium to its source, this work was not done. The recent VTEM survey by Purepoint has outlined a 1.1 kilometer long EM anomaly only 200 metres north of drill hole #333.
Biotite Boulders Zone
The Biotite Boulders zone was discovered by Purepoint and consists of radioactive sub-angular to angular k-spar, quartz, and biotite bearing gneiss boulders. Most of the radioactive boulders were buried in glacial till and a number of other scintilometer detected radioactive anomalies have been flagged within this zone but remain unearthed. The shear number and angular nature of the boulders unearthed to date suggest a proximal source for the boulders. The highest u
