Fission releases anomalous gold values from uranium boulder sampling program at Patterson

Fission Energy (CVE:FIS)(OTCQX:FSSIF) announced Wednesday further results from its summer uranium boulder prospecting program at its joint venture Patterson Lake South property in Saskatchewan.

The property is equally split between owners Fission and ESO Uranium Corp.

Of the 74 boulder samples and mineralized soils samples submitted for testing, nine returned anomalous gold values ranging from 0.101 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold to 2.43 g/t, Fission said.

The presence of gold is significant, as it correlates with those uranium deposits found within the western part of the Athabasca Basin, most notably from the 90 million pound Shea Creek and former-producing Cluff Lake Mine, to the north of Patterson Lake South, the company said in a statement.

The joint venture is evaluating the potential for high grade uranium at Patterson Lake South, given the 5 kilometre by 900 metre long boulder field recently discovered, that yielded values as high as 39.6% uranium oxide. Twenty-five of the 74 samples taken from the boulder field returned uranium grades of over 10%.

Ground geophysical surveys are scheduled to begin this fall to confirm geological structures and conductors, Fission said.

The source of the high grade uranium boulders is expected to be a basement-hosted system, located in an area where the Athabasca and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks have both been excavated away by ice action.

Local ground conditions should allow the surveys to continue through freeze up, the uranium explorer said.

Drill targets are also being chosen from technical data based on historic drilling information from the 1970s, which indicates several strong conductors on the southwest end of the Patterson Corridor. 

A planned fifteen hole drill program, subject to receiving the necessary drill permit, is well advanced, Fission said, and is scheduled to begin during the winter.

Currently, the Patterson Lake South project consists of 12 mineral claims totalling 13,497 hectares.

Aside from Patterson Lake South, Fission also holds the Waterbury Lake joint venture property, where the J-Zone East, J-Zone and Highland Zones are seens as a 370 metre extension to the Roughrider deposits owned by Hathor (TSE:HAT) in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan.

In August, uranium giant Cameco (TSE:CCO) made a hostile bid for Hathor, making a public offer of CAD $3.75 per share, valued at $520 million, which Hathor promptly rejected.
Hathor's Roughrider deposit is estimated to contain indicated resources of 17.2 million pounds of uranium in the west zone, plus another 40.7 million pounds of inferred resources in the east and the west zones.
Since August 25, Fission's share price has rallied 38% due to its assets' proximity to Hathor's, hiking up from 50 cents per share to its current trading level of 69 cents.