Fission Energy's Patterson Lake results deliver extra exploration sizzle

Fission Energy (TSX-V: FIS, OTCQX: FSSIF) has just announced impressive  uranium grades from the finalization of its winter drilling program at Waterbury Lake, and confirmed the existence of high grade uranium mineralization at Paterson Lake South, which may lead to the discovery of a new area of mineralization in the southern margins of the Athabasca Basin.

The Company has focused its exploration effort on the Waterbury Lake Joint Venture, which is located within the Eastern Deposit Trend of the Athabasca Basin. This Trend that has produced more than 20% of the world’s uranium sourced from the richest uranium deposits in the world and includes resources at Midwest, Roughrider, Cigar Lake, McArthur River, Millennium and Key Lake, and hosts infrastructure that is ideal for uranium exploration, development and production.

Typical grades for worldwide sandstone deposits are 0.2% or 2,000 ppm U3O8, whereas grades at Waterbury Lake run 10 to 15 times above the world average. Resources within the Waterbury Joint Venture are located 10 kilometres from the McLean Lake Mill, which has significant excess capacity available to process uranium resources from producers in the area. 

The Waterbury Lake Joint Venture is owned 60% by Fission Energy and 40% by the Korea Waterbury Uranium Limited Partnership, who control an extremely prospective 2,500 metre long section of the Discovery Bay Corridor that contains the western extension of the Hathor (TSX: HAT) owned West Zone, hosting 27.8 million pounds of U3O8, along with East and Far East Deposits, collectively known as Roughrider. The Midwest A and Midwest Deposits are located on ground controlled by an Areva (EPA:AREVA) and Denison Mines (TSE:DML, AMEX:DNN) Joint Venture that found on a mineralized corridor that splays to the south.

All of these resources host in excess of 110 million pounds of uranium and form a very significant uranium camp, all within 4,000 metres of Waterbury, and confirm the high exploration potential of that ground.

The Waterbury Joint Venture partners recently completed a total of 26,305 metres of drilling in 82 holes during their 2011 winter program. The release of final assays confirms the high potential of the Discovery Corridor with continued growth of U308 resources and identification of new targets along 1,500 metres of strike from resources at J East, which is probably a 30 metre western extension of Hathor’s West Deposit, J Zone and new targets at PKB, Talisker and 152A Zone.
 
The J Zone absorbed 53 drill holes and outlined a zone of unconformity style mineralization extending for at least 370 metres, over a width of 50 metres. Highlights include WAT11-131 where drilling intersected 14.5 metres at a grade of 7.84% U3O8 from a depth of 198.0 metres, and included bonanza grades of 46.15% U3O8 over 2 metres, WAT11-127 intersected 12.0 metres at a grade of 4.41% at 197.5 metres, and included grades of 10.91% U3O8 over 3.5 metres. Latest drilling results include WAT11-137B, which intersected 7.0m grading 2.27% U308 at 193.00 metres, including 1.5m of 5.66% U308, and WAT11-146 intersected 15.5 metres of 5.55% U3O8, including 2.5 metres grading 32.39% U3O8.

This program succeeded in tripling the length of the J Zone from the previous summer drilling program of 2010, and confirmed that the J Zone remains open in all directions. Drilling also confirmed the presence of a second source of uranium mineralization that is present in the basement rock, and extends for at least 90 metres beyond the currently defined unconformity mineralization. Basement mineralization was identified at WAT11-188, which intersected 6.50 metres grading 0.30% U3O8 at 234.75 metres and 3.50 meters of 0.45% U3O8 at 259.50 metres.

Dundee Capital Markets postulate that the J Zone has potential for between 11 to 18 million pounds of U3O8 at a grade of 3%. They also note that most of the high grade mineralization at West Zone / Roughrider located on the neighboring claim is contained within basement rocks and that basement rocks within the J Zone now confirm a significant new target for uranium mineralization.
Regional exploration identified the PKB Zone, which is located 90 metres west of the J Zone where 8 of 10 holes identified mineralization over an east west strike of 45 metres and width of 40 meters, and open in all directions. Best results include WAT11-122 which intersected 5.0 metres at the unconformity grading 0.52% U308, WAT11-133 intersected variable mineralization at the unconformity, including 1.0metres grading 1.40% U308, and WAT11-160 intersected 4.0 metres grading 0.25% U308. The 153A Zone contains drill hole WAT11-153A which is located 1,500 metres west of the J Zone and intersected 1.50m grading 0.23% U308 at 267.50 metres, and 1.0 metre of 0.09% U308 at 271.50 metres and represents a new drilling target.

A new mineralized corridor was identified at Oban, which is located 4,000 metres to the north of Discovery Bay, and is characterized by a low magnetic signature with at least 4,000 metres of discrete electromagnetic conductors. 8 scout holes were drilled to test these signatures, recovering similar rocks types to those found in early drilling at the J Zone. WAT11-172 intersected 0.50 metres grading 0.10% U308 at 263.00 metres and 0.50 metres of 0.07% U308 at 265.50 metres, and identifies Oban as a high priority target.
A summer drilling program of 7,400 metres for 21 holes is underway at the J Zone and includes step out drilling and probes into the newly identified basement mineralization, and drilling at PKB, 153A, Oban and Murphy Lake. This program is expected to be completed before the end of August, with assay results to follow.

Fission has also advanced surface exploration at its 50/50 Joint Venture with ESO Uranium (CVE: ESO) at Paterson Lake, which straddles the southern margin of the Athabasca Basin, near the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The partners have traced a uranium boulder field over 5,000 metres and width of up to 900 metres, where 74 cobble and boulder samples were collected, with 25 returning grades of over 10% U3O8, and 23 returning 1 – 10% U3O8, with cobbles assaying up to 39.6% U3O8 and boulders up to 25.7% U3O8.

The rock composition in the boulder train may have originated from basement type Athabasca mineralization, which is expected at depths of less than 100 metres in the project area, and may represent distribution from several source areas that are located 3,000 metres on the down ice direction from the Patterson Conductor Corridor, where historical airborne and ground surveys have identified anomalies near Patterson Lake, within the boulder field and in close proximity to the Patterson Conductor Corridor.

The partners suggest that the project may have potential to compare with the Cluff Lake Mine, which produced 80 million pounds of uranium from an open pit mine, and is located 80 kilometres to the north. An expedited surface exploration program is planned on this very exciting target, with drilling planned for the fall and winter of 2011.

Fission is well financed with $18.3 million in working capital, and is committed along with its partners, to a significant exploration effort at Waterbury Lake continuing into 2012. Patterson Lake provides additional exploration sizzle and exemplifies the high quality prospects Fission has generated in the Athabasca Basin.