February 7 2006 – In response to encouraging results from airborne surveys conducted late 2005, Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSX-V:PTU) announced today that it has increased the size of its 100 percent owned Umfreville property, located in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, by 30 percent and has commenced preparations for additional ground surveys this season.
“We have clearly defined a geological trend in this region that warrants us extending our area of interest”, said Chris Frostad, President and CEO. “The deeper sensing technologies used have revealed a much more extensive conductive trend than we had originally anticipated”.
On February 1, 2006, staking was completed to add 15,000 hectares to Purepoint’s Umfreville property in order to secure the extension of a fold axis. Although increased depth to the basement is expected, historically identified magnetic lows in the area indicate favourable rocks.
The original Umfreville claim block was selected for staking after a reinterpretation of the structural geology and an extensive review of exploration assessment reports was completed. An initial feature of interest was the horseshoe shape of Umfreville Lake which suggested the presence of a fold structure. Lakes can be created when structures in the basement rock allow the overlying sandstone to collapse. Hydrothermal alteration of the sandstone matrix to clay minerals can also contribute to the collapse of overlying sandstone, for example Cigar Lake.
The distinctive shape of the Umfreville claim block reflects where a large-scale fold was ultimately interpreted to lie. Folds can indirectly influence ore deposition by confining and directing uraniferous solution to structural traps such as faults or fractures. Based on previous airborne geophysical survey results and extrapolation of ground-delineated conductors, a conductive trend was believed to be associated with the folded rocks.
The 2005 MEGATEM II airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey has confirmed a strong conductive trend that is apparently associated with the interpreted fold structure. The conductive trend is seen to wrap around Umfreville Lake providing further evidence that the lake reflects a fold nose at depth. It is noteworthy that none of the eleven (11) historic drill holes on the Umfreville property are located on the newly outlined EM conductors. The northern EM anomalies, coincident with structures that crosscut the interpreted fold and geologic contacts, are considered excellent uranium exploration targets.
The Umfreville Lake EM anomaly, also associated with the Brink-Gauthier Linement, is the current exploration target. Permits were recently secured and linecutting has now commenced in the area. One hundred and sixty (160) kilometres of linecutting is planned with ground Transient Electromagnetic and Total Field Magnetic surveying scheduled to commence later this month. Four holes drilled immediately southwest of Umfreville Lake (SMDC, 1980) all encountered strong kaolinization and chloritization alteration that typically surrounds uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin. Three of the holes were abandoned because of broken ground, while one hole (HR-1), intersected the unconformity at 376 metres. A downhole electromagnetic survey on HR-1 indicated that the hole missed the targeted conductor.
A location map of the Umfreville Lake Project indicating MEGATEM EM anomalies, significant structures and historic drilling can be viewed at http://www.purepoint.ca/UraniumProjects/UmfrevillePR.asp
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.
