Drilling results of the lithogeochemical and PIMA/clay alteration samples and analysis on Hole KEF-12-08, revealed that basement alteration continued beyond the expected regolith alteration to the bottom of the hole.
Hole KEF-12-08 was spud to 553m depth to test the extent of alteration encountered at the bottom of Hole AU4-01 that was drilled to a depth of 402m in 2011.
Drill Hole KEF-12-08 confirmed the base metals including lead, cobalt, arsenic and nickel in the sandstone, which was encountered in Hole AU4-01.
Further, elevated uranium enrichment of 112ppm over 2m at about 400m depth was encountered in Hole AU4-01 and also two other zones of anomalous uranium mineralization at a greater depth.
UAX president Gil Schneider said the uranium grades encountered and the size and scale of the alteration zone at Keefe is remarkable, and are typical of those found in the outer envelopes of major Basin deposits.
"Athabasca’s exploration team will further examine all results with an eye to making a world class discovery," Gil added.
The company plans to focus on an unconformity deposit model, where it believes that the deeper mineralized zone is the plumbing system for a shallower deposit; unconformity depths at Keefe Lake are typically at 170m.
Athabasca said the base metal enrichment discovery in the overlying sandstone, uranium enrichment, as well as the silicification, is significant as it marks that the Keefe Lake Alteration Zone has been subject to multiple hydrothermal alteration events, typical of Athabasca Basin deposits.
All holes at Keefe Lake showed alteration that extended into the basement and the company will examine petrographic thin sections of core taken in the basement rocks in the area to identify the qualitative mineralogical and alteration features of the basement alteration zone.
