Gold & Silver
Yukon
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Aben's Mann Lake Uranium Project, Athabasca Basin
Aben holds interest in approximately 40,000 acres (160 square kilometres) of highly prospective ground within the eastern flank of the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan. Aben owns a 40% interest and Canterra Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: CTM) owns the other 60% of the Mann Lake property, which is located approximately 25 kilometres to the SSW of the McArthur River Mine and 15 kilometres to the NE of Cameco's Millennium (U3O8) discovery, and occurs at the northern extent of the B1 conductor.
The adjacent property, of significance, to the Mann Lake property is the Cree Extension joint venture hosting the Millennium deposit to the southwest. Cree Extension is a joint venture among Cameco Corporation, as operator, JCU (Canada) Exploration Co. Ltd., UEM Inc., and Cogema Resources Inc. In 2000, Cameco discovered the Millennium Uranium Zone on the Cree Extension using geophysical and geochemical techniques. The Millennium uranium deposit is located approximately 15 km southwest of the southern boundary of Aben's Mann Lake property.
Athabasca Basin Regional Mag Survey
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The other property of significance is the adjoining Mann Lake property to the east. In June 2006, Cameco Corporation (TSX: CCO), UEM Inc., and International Enexco (TSX-V: IEC) joint venture on the adjoining Mann Lake property, which is "beside" Aben's Mann Lake project to the east, announced successful drill results. Two holes were drilled and targeted the western most conductor within a resistivity low. One hole intersected the unconformity at 517.8 metres and encountered four narrow intervals of basement-hosted uranium mineralization within 12 metres of the unconformity. The two highest-grade intervals averaged 7.12% U308 over 0.25 metres and 5.53% U308 over 0.4 metres. In November 2006, International Enexco announced Cameco had tripled its budget for the 2007 exploration on their Mann Lake property.
The February 2005 NI43-101 report on Aben's Mann Lake project recommended that further investigation of the conductors located near Marean Lake on the Mann Lake property should be undertaken. The full February 2005 NI43-101 report regarding the Mann Lake and Huard-Kirsch Lakes uranium properties can be viewed at www.sedar.com (click here).
In May 2005, Aben announced it had established a new grid of 21.9 line kilometres on the Marean Lake area in the centre of the Mann Lake claim block. There was a previous grid established here and geophysical survey conducted by Uranium Power Corp. in 1999-2000. The grid Aben established was cut at a different angle than Uranium Power's grid to allow for a better interpretation and correlation of the suspected basement conductors on the Marean Lake area. The Company has completed a gravity survey on parts of the new grid, which indicates reactive basement faults and provides Aben with prospective drill targets.
In April 2006, Triex Minerals (now Canterra Minerals Corp.) undertook a detailed ground geophysical survey to fully delineate drill targets. A Phase One 4,000 metre diamond drill program began September 2006 following the geophysics.
The five hole Phase One drill program tested an easterly to southeasterly trending structural corridor about one kilometre wide, which runs across the central part of the property, and truncates the regional northeasterly grain of conductors, linears, and magnetic features. The image map below is a ground-based gravity survey that delineates individual faults in the corridor:
Mann Lake Geophysical Survey Map
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| Diamond drill hole MN06-002 located on the southern side of the structural corridor encountered pervasively bleached and locally intensely fractured and friable sandstone over approximately 90 metres within the Mfa Formation of the Athabasca Group, immediately above the unconformity, which was intersected at 606 metres. On-site PIMA analyses show illite clay alteration throughout this 90 metre interval of altered sandstone. Further, there is increased radioactivity at the unconformity. |
Fractured Core Samples
From Drill Hole MN06-002 
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Hole MN06-005 was located on the northern side of the structural corridor, and approximately one kilometre to the north of Hole MN06-002. It intersected the unconformity at 631 metres. A four metre wide zone of anomalous Boron (up to 1758 ppm Bo) was encountered in sandstone immediately above the unconformity.
An altered basement gneissic rock with abundant clay, chlorite, hematite and calc-silicate minerals about 7.6 metres below the unconformity contains anomalous uranium (up to 73.6 ppm uranium) over a 1.5 metre interval, compared to a background of between 1 and 5 ppm. Quartz veinlets are noted. This zone is coincident with an adjacent interval with up to 631 ppm Bo over 7.2 metres. Boron is enriched at the McArthur River uranium mine, and together with illite and chlorite alteration, define an integrated regional hydrothermal corridor between the McArthur River and Key Lake uranium mines (eg. Earle and Sopuck, 1989). |
ppm Boron Chart
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In January 2007, Aben and Triex Minerals (now Canterra Minerals) announced that alteration and geochemical anomalies were confirmed by the first pass drill program on the Mann Lake uranium property. A $1.2-million follow-up diamond drilling program started in the second half of 2007. 2,534 metres of drilling in three holes on the property was finished in April 2008.
In January 2013, Cameco Corporation (52.5%) with International Enexco (30%) and Areva Resources (17.5%) announced that a 21,000 metre (69,000 feet) diamond drill program on their Mann Lake uranium project (adjacent to Aben's Mann Lake Project) has commenced by the project operator, Cameco. The budget for the 2013 program is $6,000,000 and three rigs will be turning on the property. In November 2012, Denison Mines Corp. subscribed for 3,600,000 units of International Enexco at a price of $0.50 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,800,000. Denison's strategic investment was proportional to Enexco's portion of the 2013 exploration program on their Mann Lake Property. Additionally, in December 2012, Ron Hochstein, CEO of Denison Mines, joined IEC's Board of Directors. It is our opinion that Denison's aggressive moves in the Athabasca Basin recently (acquiring FIS, spinning out their US assets to Energy Fuels (EFR:TSX) to focus on the Athabasca) must not go unnoticed.
Athabasca Basin Map
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The Huard-Kirsch Lakes Uranium Project, Athabasca Basin
The Huard-Kirsch Lakes project is situated approximately 20 kilometres to the NW of Cameco Corporation's high-grade McArthur River Uranium Mine. Aben owns 49% of the Huard-Kirsch Lakes Uranium Project with Denison Mines Corp. (TSX: DML) owning the other 51%.
The February 2005 43-101 report on the Huard-Kirsch Lakes project recommended that the conductors on the Huard - Kirsch Lakes property, considered to be related to basement graphitic horizons or structures from the MEGATEM Airborne survey completed in February 2005, be followed up on the ground with fixed loop or moving loop TEM surveys. The magnetic data obtained from the Airborne survey was modeled and the interpretation used to guide the ground follow-up program. The conductors located in the prior work by Cogema Resources show up well on the MEGATEM Airborne survey. These conductors are the first priority targets on the project.
The full February 2005 43-101 report regarding the Mann Lake and Huard - Kirsch Lakes uranium properties can be viewed at www.sedar.com (click here).
During 2006, Denison Mines completed several exploration surveys on the Huard-Kirsch Lakes project. Exploration has consisted of grid establishment, boulder geochemistry, as well as airborne and ground geophysics. The property is interpreted to be underlain by a conductive meta-sedimentary sequence that has never been drill tested. Interpretations of this data suggest that the anomaly represents a favorable target for exploration for unconformity uranium deposits.
In 2007, a single hole was drilled by Denison Mines to a depth of 811 metres on an untested geophysical anomaly. The hole intersected favourable graphitic pelites at a depth shallower than expected. The occurrence of the unconformity and prospective uranium host rocks at shallower depths is a very positive development on the property.
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