The exploration effort is being funded by Vale Exploration Canada Inc (VEC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Vale S.A. (Vale), which has met its first year funding commitment of $750,000.
Under a Letter Agreement with Monaro’s wholly owned subsidiary, exploration with VEC and Uranium Corporation LLC (UCA) has continued over the last quarter, with field parties evaluating a number of airborne anomalies on the ground. A number of survey blocks have been assessed and several significant anomalies have been confirmed and new prospective areas have been delineated.
Follow up rock chip sampling and assessment by spectrographic analysis demonstrated that a number of samples are highly anomalous for uranium. Rock chip sampling of several prospects and anomalies have yielded values of between 0.064 and 0.20% U3O8.
The above style of mineralisation is quite comparable to the better known deposits within the Apache basin such as Workman Creek (not owned by the Company), Jim and Red Bluff claims, Bull Claims and Sue mine. The permitting process on the Jim and Bull claims is continuing with the view to facilitate drilling operations as soon as possible. It is now anticipated that drilling will commence in February 2010.
The basis for drilling these two prospects is based on the Unconformity model. Well developed mineralisation occurs in the Dripping Springs Quartzite, which is the upper target zone and is associated with well developed structural controls and expressed as strong linear aero-radiometric anomalies consistent in placement with the known mineralisation and structural trends. Historic records indicate that between 1953 and 1955, 3009 tonnes grading 0.19% U3O8 were taken from the Red Bluff mine, and much of that material still remains in stockpiles controlled by UCA. Grades of up to 2.0% U3O8 have been reported at Red Bluff. The Sue mine was worked between 1954 and 1956 and reportedly shipped about 500 tons of ore containing an average 0.18% U3O8.
Since the Unconformity between the Apache Group and underlying basement has never been drilled in the Apache Basin, there is no data at present to guide placement of drill holes to intercept specific unconformity targets. However, the working concept is that mineralization in the Dripping Springs Quartzsite is genetically related to mineralization at the unconformity (Athabasca Basin model) and that it will be situated ve rticallyabove such deeper mineralisation. The fracture sets containing ore in the Dripping Springs Quartzite are all vertical, which supports this interpretation.
