www.fission-energy.com
Fission Energy Corp. (TSX.V-FIS) is a Canadian based uranium exploration and development company with properties in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin, Quebec, and the Macusani District in Peru. In 2010, Fission made a significant high grade uranium discovery at its Waterbury Lake property immediately adjacent to Rio Tinto's (formerly Hathor Exploration's) Roughrider Deposit, and in 2011 made a high grade boulder field discovery at its Patterson Lake South property. Both are located in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin: home of the richest uranium deposits in the world.
Fission Energy says Waterbury's J Zone holds 7.4 mln pounds uranium
Fission Energy Corp. (CVE:FIS)(OTCQX:FSSIF) late Monday unveiled an NI 43-101 resource estimate for the J-Zone uranium deposit at its 40,256-hectare Waterbury Lake Property, located in the eastern part of the Athabasca Basin.
Monday, Fission shares closed up 16 percent to $0.94. Over the past 12 months, the stock is up 32 percent.
The J Zone deposit is currently estimated to contain an Indicated resource totalling 7,367,000 pounds of uranium, based on 168,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.99 percent uranium. An additional 1,511,000 pounds based on 150,000 tonnes averaging 0.46 percent uranium is classified as an Inferred mineral resource.
The company also said that a previously-announced $7.3 million, three-rig, 25,000 metre drill program designed to expand the J Zone resource and further evaluate other mineralized discoveries and test new targets has commenced.
Fission Energy said approximately 83 percent of the mineral resource has been classified as an Indicated resource, demonstrating the high level of confidence in the data analysed.
Metallurgical extraction was high with 96.1 percent to 98.5 percent uranium recovery.
Low values for toxic elements such as arsenic and selenium compares favourably with Hathor's (TSE:HAT) Roughrider uranium deposit, located immediately to the east, Fission Energy added.
In late 2011, Hathor was subject to a takeover battle between mining giants Cameco Corp. (TSE:CCO)(NYSE:CCJ) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO)(LON:RIO), with the latter emerging as the winner with its $654 million friendly bid trumping Cameco's $625 million hostile offer.
Indeed, Fission Energy was amongst Versant Partners' top picks for 2012, with the capital markets firm seeing "inevitable consolidation" for the company.
Monday's resource estimate from Fission Energy does not include mineralization from the highly prospective Summit Zone, located 1,532 metres to the west of the deposit.
The J Zone uranium discovery was announced in February, 2010.
Through successful exploration programs completed to date, it has evolved into an unconformity uranium deposit that overlaps newly discovered basement mineralization discovered in the western part of the deposit during the company's most recent exploration program completed during the summer months of 2011.
Each successive drill program has expanded the deposit's current east-west strike length, beginning from approximately 30 metres west of the J East Zone, which in itself is an extension of the Hathor Roughrider Deposit, and extending for 578 metres to the west.
The J Zone Deposit remains open along strike, laterally (horizontally at unconformity) as well as vertically (sandstone and basement), over significant widths, thereby exhibiting significant potential for expanding the resource
The company's Winter 2012 exploration program will see a total of 69 holes being drilled. The primary goal will be to build on the J Zone's mineral resource estimate, where 47 infill and step-out drill holes will target the deposit's high grade unconformity mineralization, in addition to the basement mineralization found in the western part of the J-Zone.
The gap between the J Zone Deposit and the Summit Zone to the west will also be drill tested.
The drilling program is expected to be completed by mid-March.
