February 15 2006 – Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSX-V:PTU) announced today airborne survey results of its 100 percent owned South Newnham and McEwen properties, located in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, with South Newnham confirmed as a high priority target.
“Based on our review of historical airborne surveys flown in the Basin, the South Newnham property has returned some of the most encouraging airborne survey results we have seen”, said Chris Frostad, President and CEO. “We are working once again with a significant area of flat lying conductivity along a structural shift quite similar to the environment at our Turnor Lake property”.
The South Newnham property was staked by Purepoint because of the significant N-S Newnham fault that is coincident with a magnetic low. The fault was considered a possible conduit for uraniferous fluids, while the magnetic low suggested metapelite rocks. The high-grade Athabasca uranium deposits typically occur at structurally favourable sites where Athabasca sandstones lie unconformably on basement rocks. The uranium deposits are located in basement faults and fracture zones, are associated with graphitic metapelites and have well-developed alteration halos that are evidence of hydrothermal fluid flow.
The deeper sensing 2005 MEGATEM II airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey over South Newnham has revealed extensive conductive zones coincident with the Newnham fault. The airborne magnetics were utilized to locate the Newnham fault and to interpret three crosscutting east-west faults. Since the EM anomalies do not extend to depth, they are interpreted to reflect conductive clay alteration developed near the unconformity. The intersections of the Newnham fault and east-west faults, if acting as structural traps for hydrothermal fluids, would have seen development of clay alteration and possibly uranium deposition.
Historic work north of the South Newnham claim has confirmed graphitic conductors and alteration minerals such as kaolinite and dickite exist within the area (SMDC, 1983; JNR, 1999). No drilling has ever been conducted on the claim. The depth to basement is estimated at 200 metres, based on a drillhole located to the southwest. South Newnham is considered to have excellent potential for uranium mineralization and will be treated as a high priority exploration target. A program of linecutting and surface geophysics is scheduled for later in 2006.
The McEwen Lake property was staked on the basis of encouraging historical work that included numerous airborne radiometric anomalies, an EM conductor coincident with the Fond du Lac River and a northeast trending magnetic low. The depth penetration of the 2005 MEGATEM survey indicates that the Fond du Lac anomaly is caused by conductive river bottom sediments. However, the survey also defined the edge of a strong conductor within the southwest corner of the McEwen claim. A Fixed Loop Transient EM survey by Pioneer Metals in 1997 over a portion of this airborne conductor failed to identify a significant conductor on the ground. Based on the recent airborne survey results, Purepoint now considers the McEwen property to be a lower-priority exploration target and has not scheduled any immediate follow-up work.
Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. is a uranium focused exploration company with 100 percent ownership of 130,000 hectares in the Canadian Athabasca Basin. Established in the Basin before the resurgence in uranium, Purepoint is now actively advancing seven key properties of historic significance. Several of these projects contain near term targets, drill ready for 2006.
