{kanada_flagge}What should we call the explorer Searchlight Resources (TSXV: SCLT; FRA: 2CC2) with its now more than 1,000 km² of license areas in Saskatchewan? As a gold explorer because of its brownfield projects in the Bootleg Lake camp near Flin Flon or as a uranium and rare earths explorer because of its recent discovery on the 320 km² Kulyk Lake project (which we will hear a lot about at the latest by the end of May) or perhaps as a copper-cobalt-vanadium explorer as suggested by the latest geophysical data from the 190 km² Duddridge Lake area? At least this much can be said: the company, under the leadership of CEO Stephen Wallace, has risen almost unnoticed in recent years to become one of the largest license holders in Saskatchewan. Far from being arbitrary, its openness to different metals is proving to be extremely forward-thinking in the face of rising prices and growing awareness of “critical raw materials.” Searchlight is well positioned in one of the world’s most highly rated mining jurisdictions. Seven of Searchlight’s eight projects in Saskatchewan contain so-called critical metals.
For example, Duddridge Lake (see Figures 1 and 2), which Searchlight has barely talked about to date despite its size. Searchlight acquired an initial portion of the Duddridge Lake property in 2018 for modest cash and share payments and owns 100% of the claims with no further payments. There is a 1% Net smelter royalty on the original 30.5 square kilometre acquisition which can be bought out for $2.5 million CAD. Since acquisition the property has been expanded in size to 191.8 square kilometres in 2022.
Figure 1: Both Kulyk Lake and Duddridge Lake are geologically part of the so-called Wollaston Domain outside the Athabasca Basin.
Duddridge Lake, as noted, contains not one but four critical metals, uranium, cobalt, vanadium and copper in economically significant assays. Back in 2018, Searchlight published a table of 20 samples of rock that a previous operator, Fission Uranium, had sampled in 2013. The average value of the contained metals in these rock chunks at today’s prices is over $800 per ton. One can surmise that Fission did not pursue Duddridge Lake only because the company discovered the now $500 million uranium deposit at Patterson Lake South in 2013. However, Fission did kindly leave a historic uranium resource on Duddridge.
Searchlight has since deployed the same technologies on Duddridge Lake (as it did previously on Kulyk Lake) that led Fission Uranium to the Patterson Lake South discovery. These techniques are detailed radiation surveys to detect uranium at surface, and magnetics to identify host rocks of interest. The radiation survey technique was developed by the Fission and Special Projects Group in Calgary, Alberta, as a prospecting tool to locate high-grade uranium blocks or outcrops near surface. Searchlight has used this technique to identify new radioactive uranium targets on Duddridge, indicated by the red boxes on the map below (Figure 2). The survey also shows that the historic uranium resource is associated with a five-kilometer magnetic anomaly that also merits further investigation.
Figure 2: The Duddridge Lake property is easily accessible, 75 kilometers from La Ronge by road and 15 kilometers by ATV trail. This is good by Canadian standards.
Searchlight has identified a special deposit type on Duddridge Lake: It is a so-called Red Bed Copper Formation of Proterozoic age. This is the most important type and age for copper-cobalt deposits in the world, such as those in the Congo. In the Congo, uranium is a minor accessory element. In Saskatchewan, uranium is the dominant metal in terms of dollar value.
Conclusion: Searchlight is well positioned for the upcoming summer season. The high-grade uranium discovery at Kulyk Lake is expected to be tested as early as the end of May. This alone could be a game changer for the company (Fission and Nexgen send their regards). This will be followed by the extremely high-grade rare earths also identified at Kulyk Lake. In addition, Duddridge Lake also offers excellent exploration opportunities. After all, Rio Tinto is exploring along the same structure nearby for the very Red Bed Copper deposits that Searchlight has identified. At the moment, Searchlight is known only to a small number of investors. With success this summer, the company could easily succeed in any category, as a uranium explorer, a rare earth explorer, or even a copper-cobalt explorer. The gold projects at Bootleg Lake and Robinson Creek would then be added on top as a bonus. We believe Searchlight is still highly underrated in the market. The coming season could change that. We will stay tuned.
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