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Largest Program to Date Following Up on Athabasca Basin’s Newest High-Grade Uranium Discovery
IsoEnergy Ltd. (“IsoEnergy” or the “Company”) (TSXV:ISO, OTCQX:ISENF) is pleased to provide additional details on its core drilling plans for the Hurricane zone. The Hurricane zone is a new discovery of high-grade uranium mineralization on the Company’s 100% owned Larocque East property (the “Property”) in the Eastern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan (Figures 1 & 2).
Figure 1 – Larocque East Property Map
Figure 2 – Hurricane Zone Drill Hole Location Map
Figure 3 – Winter 2020 Planned Drilling Areas
Figure 4 – Example Section (4660E) of Planned Infill Drilling
Figure 5 – Planned Follow-up Drilling on the 5185E Section
The fully funded $2M planned drill program includes the addition of a second rig, to complete 20 drill holes for an estimated 8,500 m of core drilling. With all permits in hand, the program is anticipated to begin in early January to complete infill and expansion drilling.
Steve Blower, Vice President of Exploration commented: “Planning for our winter core drilling program at the Hurricane zone is largely complete and we’re looking forward to getting started in January. With two main objectives to satisfy (infill and expansion) and a large amount of drilling to complete, we’ve added a second drill rig for the program. The Hurricane zone remains open in most directions and is located on a large land package near some of the largest uranium mines in the world. We look forward to completing our largest drill program to date and expect to generate a large amount of news flow beginning early in the new year.”
Program Details
The planned winter core drilling campaign will begin in January and will consist of a total of 8,500 m in approximately 20 drill holes. There are two main objectives for the program – infill and expansion (Figure 3).
Infill
The first objective is to infill the current 500 m long footprint of the Hurricane zone. Most cross-sections remain open, including section 4635E where drill hole LE19-16A intersected 5.4% U3O8 over 7.0 m. Infill drilling will also target along-strike gaps of up to 250 m between drill sections. Figure 4 is an example of planned drilling on a section where mineralization is open to the north and south.
Expansion
The second primary objective is to evaluate the potential to expand the zone to the east. This will include following up the strong alteration and elevated geochemistry in step-out drill hole LE19-26, the only drill hole completed by the Company to date that is beyond the 500m long Hurricane zone footprint. Figure 5 shows the drill holes that are planned to follow-up the results in drill hole LE19-26. Drilling metres and holes have been allocated equally to both objectives. The all-in budget for the drilling campaign is approximately $2,000,000.
Next Steps
Drilling plans will be fine tuned over the next few weeks. All necessary permits are in hand. Winter road construction is scheduled to begin in December as ice conditions permit, which should allow drilling to commence in January.
The Larocque East Property and the Hurricane Zone
The 100% owned Larocque East property consists of 20 mineral claims totaling 8,371 ha and is not encumbered by any royalties or other interests. Larocque East is immediately adjacent to the north end of IsoEnergy’s Geiger property and is 35 km northwest of Orano Canada’s McClean Lake uranium mine and mill.
Along with other target areas, the Property covers a 15-kilometre-long northeast extension of the Larocque Lake conductor system; a trend of graphitic metasedimentary basement rocks that is associated with significant uranium mineralization at the Hurricane zone, and in several occurrences on Cameco Corp.’s neighbouring property to the southwest of Larocque East. The Hurricane zone was discovered in July, 2018 and was followed up with a 12-hole drilling campaign in the winter of 2019 and a recently completed 17-hole summer 2019 drilling campaign. Dimensions are currently 500m along-strike, 40m wide and up to 10m thick. The zone is open for expansion along-strike and on most sections. Mineralization is polymetallic and commonly straddles the sub-Athabasca unconformity 320 m below surface. The best intersection to date is 5.4% U3O8 over 7.0 m in drill hole LE19-16A. Drilling at Cameco Corp.’s Larocque Lake zone on the neighbouring property to the southwest has returned historical intersections of up to 29.9% U3O8 over 7.0 m in drill hole Q22-040. Like the nearby Geiger property, Larocque East is located adjacent to the Wollaston-Mudjatik transition zone – a major crustal suture related to most of the major uranium deposits in the eastern Athabasca Basin. Importantly, the sandstone cover on the Property is thin, ranging between 140 m and 330 m in previous drilling. In addition to the Hurricane zone discovery, four historical drill holes have intersected weak uranium mineralization at other locations on the Property to date.
Qualified Person Statement
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release was prepared by Andy Carmichael, P.Geo., IsoEnergy’s Senior Geologist, who is a “Qualified Person” (as defined in NI 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Carmichael has verified the data disclosed. As mineralized drill holes are oriented very steeply (-80 to -90 degrees) into a zone of mineralization that is interpreted to be horizontal, the true thickness of the intersections is expected to be greater than or equal to 90% of the core lengths. This news release refers to properties other than those in which the Company has an interest. Mineralization on those other properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Company’s properties. For additional information regarding the Company’s Larocque East Project, including its quality assurance and quality control procedures, please see the Technical Report dated effective May 15, 2019 on the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com.
About IsoEnergy
IsoEnergy is a well-funded uranium exploration and development company with a portfolio of prospective projects in the eastern Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada and a historical inferred mineral resource estimate at the Mountain Lake uranium deposit in Nunavut. IsoEnergy is led by a Board and Management team with a track record of success in uranium exploration, development and operations. The Company was founded and is supported by the team at its major shareholder, NexGen Energy Ltd.
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This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities referenced herein have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”), and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements thereunder.
Forward-Looking Information
The information contained herein contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. “Forward-looking information” includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, planned exploration activities. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved” or the negative connotation thereof.
Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the price of uranium, the anticipated cost of planned exploration activities, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct the Company’s planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.
Forward-looking information and statements also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual events or results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements, including, among others: negative operating cash flow and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of additional financing, no known mineral reserves or resources, the limited operating history of the Company, the influence of a large shareholder, alternative sources of energy and uranium prices, aboriginal title and consultation issues, reliance on key management and other personnel, actual results of exploration activities being different than anticipated, changes in exploration programs based upon results, availability of third party contractors, availability of equipment and supplies, failure of equipment to operate as anticipated; accidents, effects of weather and other natural phenomena and other risks associated with the mineral exploration industry, environmental risks, changes in laws and regulations, community relations and delays in obtaining governmental or other approvals.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a result of new information or events except as required by applicable securities laws
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