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Message: U308 Corp. Announces Definition of Additional, Higher-Grade Uranium-Vanadium Layers atLaguna Salada Argentina.
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U308 Corp. Announces Definition of Additional, Higher-Grade Uranium-Vanadium Layers atLaguna Salada Argentina.

posted on Feb 07, 2017 09:15PM
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U3O8 Corp. Announces Definition of Additional, Higher-Grade Uranium-Vanadium Layers at Laguna Salada, Argentina
 
Toronto, Ontario - February 7, 2017 - U3O8 Corp. (TSX: UWE), (OTCQB: UWEFF)("U3O8 Corp." or the "Company") announces that, building on the recent discovery of higher-grade uranium-vanadium mineralization at La Rosada, similar channels have been delineated in, and beneath, the lowermost gravel layer at Laguna Salada.  These levels are in addition to the layer of mineralization on which the resource estimate[1] was based and may represent significant resource growth potential at Laguna Salada.
 
"By applying what we have learned from the discovery of higher-grade uranium-vanadium in the La Rosada area, announced in the last few weeks, our exploration team has identified similar higher-grade layers at the base of the gravel, and beneath the gravel, at Laguna Salada," said Dr. Richard Spencer, CEO of U3O8 Corp. "The identification of higher-grade potential provides an opportunity to further reduce estimated production costs for the Laguna Salada Deposit.  In addition, it opens up new targets for shallow uranium-vanadium mineralization in soft gravel, sand and silt that can be inexpensively explored through trenching.
Assay Results
 
Table 1.  Summary assay results from composite panel samples from trenches at the base of the unconsolidated gravel, sand and silt layers at Laguna Salada.  The extent to which Laguna Salada gravel can be beneficiated, as per Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)[2] is also shown for reference.
 
Sample Sample No Material Sample Data Assay Data
Depth Below Surface True Thickness (m) U3O8 V2O5
From
(m)
 To
(m)
Bulk sample
(ppm)
 Bulk sample
(ppm)
High Value
749
Gravel
 0.8 1.05 0.3 5,302 3,793
Low Value
3818
 0.9 1.9 1.0 107 474
Average of 69 samples  
0.7
421
 807
Estimated grade of fine-grained component of gravel after removal of pebbles. (Data from PEA)      
4,636
3,227
               
High Value
3659
Sand
 0.7 1.35 0.7 1,196 1,518
Low Value
10136
 2.6 4.1 1.5 125 388
Average of 16 samples  
0.5
 353 1,144
               
High Value
3377
Silt
 0.5 0.6 0.1 2,328 1,267
Low Value
3669
 1.15 1.65 0.5 103 1,114
Average of 17 samples  
0.7
 408 1,531
 
Uranium-Vanadium - Bearing Layers at the Base of the Gravel at Laguna Salada
 
Uranium-Vanadium at Laguna Salada constitutes a "caliche" deposit - where uranium and vanadium precipitated as a result of intense evaporation in a semi-desert environment.  Mineralization is concentrated in a layer that is parallel to the surface from which evaporation occurred.  Over 90% of the trenches that were used to estimate the resource at Laguna Salada are from a layer of mineralization that is parallel to the surface at shallow depth - constituting typical caliche-style mineralization in the gravel plain.
 
Trenches excavated at the edge of the plain, where the upper part of the gravel has been removed by erosion, exposed higher-grade mineralization at the base of the gravel. This was considered to be part of the layer of caliche mineralization that simply draped the topography from which evaporation occurred - and was modelled as a single layer in the initial resource estimate at Laguna Salada.
 
Exploration of the La Rosada area (press releases made on Jan 11th and 19th, 2017 - the latter with video footage of the mineralization in the trenches) revealed, not only well mineralized gravel, but also an underlying, mineralized sand layer and mineralized volcanic material.  With the La Rosada discoveries as a model, the exploration team revisited the lower part of the gravel at Laguna Salada and recognized a very similar situation that can be summarized as follows (Figure 1):
  • Higher-grade uranium-vanadium at the base of the gravel occurs in an elongate zone that extends from northwest to southeast over at least 6 kilometres.  The mineralized gravel averages 0.7 metres thick with an average grade of 0.04% (421ppm) U3O8 and 0.08% (807ppm) V2O5 over an area of 4 square kilometres, approximately half of which is included in the current resource estimate.  Test work on Laguna Salada gravel has shown that removal of the pebbles and coarse sand by sieving results in an 11-times increase in uranium grade and a 4-times increase in vanadium grade in the fine material that would be fed to a processing plant.  Screening of gravel with these grades would therefore generate a fine-grained feed with an estimated grade of approximately 0.46% U3O8 and 0.32% V2O5;
  • Underlying the gravel in some parts of the northwestern margin of the Laguna Salada Deposit is an unconsolidated sand layer very similar to that observed at La Rosada.  The mineralized part of the sand layer averages 0.5 metres thick and has an average grade of 353ppm U3O8 and 0.11% (1,144ppm) V2O5 over an area of approximately 4 square kilometres.  The beneficiation characteristics - the extent to which grades can be increased in the fine-grained fraction by sieving - are currently being investigated; and
  • Underlying either unconsolidated gravel or sand is a fine-grained silty unit, the mineralized component of which has an average grade of 408ppm U3O8 and 0.15% (1,531ppm) V2O5 over a true thickness of 0.7 metres.  The beneficiation characteristics of the silty layer, which may be weathered volcanic rock similar to that observed at La Rosada, are unknown at this time and will be tested in due course.
There is a possibility that each of these three layers represents a zone of mineralization in its own right that is separate and distinct from the true "caliche" mineralization located in the upper part of the gravel on which the resource estimate is based.  
 
Exploration Targets
 
Several target areas have been identified for exploration for additional higher-grade resource potential:
  • Target 1 (Figure 1): Infill trenching of the higher-grade zone in the basal gravel on the northwestern margin of the Laguna Salada Deposit is required so that this layer may be incorporated into a resource estimate in its own right.  This exploration would be done with a back-actor excavator in areas where the base of the gravel lies close to surface; 
  • Target 2: A prime exploration target lies along trend of the high-grade zone immediately to the north and south of the current resource area; and
  • Target 3: It is suspected that the elongate zone of high-grade uranium-vanadium defined on the western margin of the current resource area at Laguna Salada lies in a gravel-filled channel.  If this proves to be the case, other sub-parallel channels are likely to be located at the base of the gravel plain.  The base of the gravel lies at a depth of 8 metres beneath the surface of the mesa-like plain and would require drilling with the Company's vibrosonic rig.  The main targets for additional higher-grade channels at the base of the gravel lie beneath the current resource area as well as beneath the gravel pain that lies immediately north of the resource area.  

Figure 1.  Map showing the location of the gravel plain that contains the Laguna Salada resource (footprint shown in blue), the La Rosada exploration area, and the area that has been covered with a radon cup survey.  The target areas for additional higher-grade channels in the lower part of the gravel are shown in red.  
 
Sample Preparation and Assay
 
Channel samples were taken on the walls of each trench, bagged and delivered to the ALS Chemex' preparation facility in Mendoza, Argentina.  Each sample was riffle-split.  One sub-sample was jaw-crushed to <2mm and then riffle-split again and a 250 gram sub-sample pulverized to 75µm for shipment to ALS Peru for assay by ICP (method ICP-MEMS61) after four-acid digestion.  
 
Technical Information 
 
Dr. Richard Spencer, P.Geo., CGeol., President and CEO of U3O8 Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has approved the technical information in this news release relating to the Laguna Salada Deposit and the related PEA. 

 
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