Aero Energy plans winter drilling at Murmac uranium project

While many companies in the Canadian natural resources sector are slowly becoming quieter due to the weather if nothing else, uranium company Aero Energy Ltd (TSXV: AERO; OTCQB: AAUGF; FSE: UU3) is planning a winter drilling program for its Murmac project. The aim is to follow up on the high-grade uranium discovery made in the summer.

The Murmac uranium project is located in the north of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan near Uranium Citiy on the northern edge of the Athabasca Basin, which is famous for its uranium deposits. Aero, together with partner Fortune Bay, will concentrate its winter drilling activities on the Howland Lake North target area. This summer, drill hole M24-017 encountered 8.40 meters of 0.30% uranium oxide (U3O8), including 1.20 meters of 1.79% U3O8. Individual samples even contained grades of up to 13.80% U3O8 and 4.54% U3O8 over 0.10 meters. As Aero reported at the time, this high-grade uranium mineralization of more than 1% U3O8 occurred at a depth of only 64 meters below the surface – in graphitic rock that Aero’s geologists had identified as particularly favorable for uranium deposits.

Six more drill holes planned

But the summer’s high-grade results are not the only reason the company is now focusing on Howland Lake North. In addition, anomalous uranium grades and elevated levels of geochemical pathfinder elements were discovered in all three drill holes surrounding M24-017 (50 down dip and along strike). According to Aero Energy, this indicates the presence of an extensive unconformity mineralized system in the Athabasca Basin along the Howland Lake North graphitic conductor. The company therefore believes that extension drilling is warranted along the 1 kilometer extension of this graphitic conductor structure that underlies the shallow Howland Lake.

Aero Energy now plans to drill about six holes with a total length of 900 meters along the Howland Lake North graphitic conductor. Before the drills start turning, however, a detailed investigation of the radon content in the water will be carried out in order to be able to select the drilling targets even more precisely. This survey will also partially cover a graphitic conductor structure that runs beneath the southern part of Howland Lake. Aero’s partner Fortune Bay drilled 0.17% U3O8 there in 2022.

In any case, according to Abitibi, Howland Lake North is just one of many promising targets along Murmac’s extensive graphitic corridors – the strike length is over 35 kilometers – that warrant further drilling. Similar to Howland Lake North, Aero Energy continues, they combine encouraging geophysical signatures, favorable geological and structural setting and proximity to surface uranium occurences.

Galen McNamara, CEO of Aero Energy, commented: “We are pleased to be advancing exploration at Murmac in partnership with Fortune Bay, building on the results of the successful summer drilling campaign. The project has proven to be highly prospective with its largely unexplored graphitic corridors beneath a thin surface cover – and recent drill results highlight the potential for a near-surface, high-grade basement discovery. We look forward to mobilizing our teams for the upcoming winter program, focusing on the Howland Lake North target area.”

Aero drilled eight holes along the Howland, Armbruster and Pitchvein corridors in June and July, encountering not only extremely favorable geological conditions for high-grade basement deposits associated with the Athabasca Basin, but also repeatedly encountering anomalous radioactivity. In total, anomalous uranium values (>100 ppm) were encountered in five of eight drill holes. These holes intersected shallow anomalous uranium with pathfinder element enrichment typical of high-grade deposits in the Athabasca Basin basement, according to the company.