Fission Energy hits "significant" basement mineralization at Patterson Lake South

Fission Energy Corp. (CVE:FIS)(OTCQX:FSSIF) said Wednesday that it has found significant anomalous radioactivity in the final hole of a winter drill program at the joint venture Patterson Lake South property in Saskatchewan.

The company said that hole PLS12-016 intersected "multiple intersections of anomalous and variable radioactivity", including 2.50 metres measuring less than 300-799 counts per second (cps), 7.50 metres of variable radioactivity to a maximum peak of 1,725 cps, and 5.00m measuring less than 300-378 cps.

The hole was collared 823 metres east of previous hole PLS12-013, which encountered 19.50 metres of anomalous radioactivity, along an EM conductor identified from the 2012 airborne survey to the west of Patterson Lake.

The Patterson Lake South property is a 50/50 joint venture with Fission and partner ESO Uranium Corp (CVE:ESO).

With the results today, the winter drill program, which began in February, has now been completed. The program was a continuation of last year's efforts to locate the bedrock source area of the high-grade Uranium boulder field discovery made last June, which is believed to occur below the unconformity in a basement hosted system.

In the final hole of the winter program, Fission said a weakly anomalous intermittent radiometric anomaly was identified in the overburden, extending into the basement, from 55.00 to 76.00 metres. Increasingly moderate to strong clay alteration in the basement rock below the overburden was also encountered intermittently from 111.60 to 210.10 metres.

Two additional drill holes, PLS12-014 and PLS12-015, drilled along the same EM conductor, both intersected variable narrow intervals of weakly anomalous radioactivity, Fission added. Hole PLS12-015 also encountered "increasingly strong" alteration below the overburden/unconformity interface.

In February, the companies started the 2,100 metre drilling program on the property, testing favorable basement bedrock beneath the glacial sedimentary cover to the "up-ice" area, which is east-northeast of the high grade Uranium boulder field found last June.

The high-grade Uranium boulder field has yielded boulder assays as high as 39.6% and 31.4% Uranium since its discovery.

Overall, the three drill holes reported Wednesday showed anomalous radiometric anomalies with associated alteration along 823 metres of strike on the same EM conductor, the joint venture partners said.

"These anomalies present a very significant and encouraging target for follow-up drilling to be carried out by a planned summer drill program," the parties said in a statement.

The winter drill program has further refined the boundaries of the Uranium boulder field target area to the west of Patterson Lake, with the results from prior hole PLS12-013  and hole PLS12-16 providing a "meaningful indicator" for identifying the potential high grade mineralized source of the Uranium boulder field, Fission said.

Planning is underway to carry out Sonic-reverse circulation drilling during the summer, as well as continued follow-up of the anomalous area found in this past winter program, which has so far only been partially tested.

Fission is the operator of the Patterson Lake South exploration project, which is accessible by road with primary access from all weather Highway 955, which runs north to the former Cluff Lake mine, where more than 60 million pounds of Uranium has been produced.

In February, the Uranium explorer said the joint venture staked six new claims along the south boundary of Patterson Lake South, boosting the size of the asset to around 31,000 hecatres in 17 mineral claims.

The six new claims, which were staked to cover possible south-trending extensions of the wide, high grade Uranium boulder field, total around 8,170 hectares.

Fission is focused on the acquisition and exploration of Uranium properties in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec in Canada, as well as the Macusani District in Peru.

Its flagship Waterbury Lake project is located immediately west of Hathor Exploration’s (TSE:HAT) Roughrider Uranium deposit, which is in the heart of the Athabasca Basin district that hosts over 110 million pounds of Uranium.

Hathor was subject to a takeover battle in late 2011 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 offer.

Earlier this week, Fission said it has agreed to acquire industry peer Pitchstone Exploration through a plan of arrangement. Under the terms of the deal, Fission will issue 0.2145 common shares of the company for each common share of Pitchstone.
Pitchstone is a Uranium explorer focused in three districts in Canada and Namibia. The company's property portfolio features 13 projects in the eastern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, five of which are 100 percent owned.