The Western Athabasca Syndicate Commences Winter Exploration Program on its Preston Lake Uranium Property in the Patterson La...
December 11 2013 - 6:30AM
Marketwired Canada
Noka Resources Inc. (the "Company" or "Noka") (TSX VENTURE:NX)(FRANKFURT:2NK) is
pleased to announce that the Western Athabasca Syndicate (the "Syndicate") has
commenced a ground gravity geophysical survey at its flagship Preston Lake
Uranium Property (the "Property"). Upon receiving the final data from the
extensive, three-phased summer field program, the Syndicate's Technical Team
recently met in Cranbrook to evaluate and interpret all of the results and to
make final recommendations for the $600,000 winter program. The fieldwork will
start with ground gravity to locate areas of hydrothermal alteration associated
with known conductors. These areas will be further refined using radon and EM
surveys to locate specific targets for drill testing in March 2014.
The 246,643 hectare Property, held by the Syndicate, is the largest land package
proximal to Alpha Minerals and Fission Uranium's Patterson Lake South ("PLS")
high-grade uranium discovery. The Syndicate continues to employ a systematic,
proven exploration methodology that has led to numerous uranium discoveries in
the region and throughout the Athabasca Basin. This has been very effective with
the summer program yielding numerous high-quality targets with similar
geological features and exploratory indicators also present at the nearby PLS
discovery.
Preston Lake Property Map:
http://www.nokaresources.com/images/JV-Property.jpg
Highlights:
-- Winter exploration program has commenced with Phase 4 consisting of
ground gravity, radon and EM surveys to refine specific drill targets
for March 2014
-- The Syndicate has invested $1.5 million in expenditures on the Property
to date and has delineated more than fifteen high-priority areas
associated with eight highly prospective exploration corridors and
coincident geochemical anomalies similar to the corridor hosting the
high-grade PLS discovery
-- Of the fifteen areas associated with the corridors, the seven most
prospective are being followed up on in the current program
-- Given the size of the Property, exploration to date has only focused on
approximately half of the land package leaving significant exploration
upside potential in untested areas
Commencement of the Winter Exploration Program:
The ground gravity survey will evaluate seven high-priority areas to locate
extensively altered basement rocks associated with basement conductors. The
leaching and replacement of basement rocks by hydrothermal basinal fluids
creates a density contrast resulting in a relative gravity low. Zones of
extensive, intensive, alteration are associated with strong uranium
mineralization elsewhere in the Athabasca Basin and these anomalies will be used
to prioritize and accurately locate areas for detailed radon and EM surveys,
leading to specific drill targets. The survey will cover approximately 50 square
kilometers and is being carried out by MWH Geo-Surveys Ltd.
Preston Lake Property - Gravity Survey Coverage:
http://www.nokaresources.com/images/NR_Map_Dec_4_no_ad-tau.pdf
High-Priority Targets from the 2013 Summer Program:
The 2013 summer exploration program was completed in mid-October in which a
total of 42 rock, 653 soil, 404 radon in water, 181 radon in soil, 766
biogeochemical, and 253 lake sediment samples were collected and analyzed, in
addition to 1,046 square kilometres of airborne VTEM and 876 square kilometres
of airborne radiometric surveys. This was one of the largest regional
exploration programs carried out in the Athabasca Basin during the year, with
over $1.5 million in expenditures on the Preston Lake Property to date.
Preston Lake Property - High Potential Targets:
http://www.nokaresources.com/NX-Syndicate-Corridors.jpg
Integration of the geochemical and geological data with the airborne geophysics
and historic data has delineated more than fifteen high-priority areas
associated with eight highly prospective exploration corridors. The Property's
prospective corridors are very similar to the corridor hosting the high-grade
PLS discovery by Alpha Minerals and Fission Uranium. Management cautions,
mineralization present on proximal properties (or 'corridors') is not
necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Syndicate's Property.
A high potential exploration corridor may be defined as prospective, parallel
trends of conductors, magnetics lows, and interpreted structures. These
corridors remain largely underexplored south of the Basin, having been ignored
historically. However, the Syndicate's 2013 airborne geophysical data has
confirmed that at least eight high-potential corridors extend onto the Preston
Lake Property. Moreover, integration of the 2013 summer ground sampling data
further enhances the corridor potential with multiple coincident geochemical and
radon anomalies.
Of the fifteen areas associated with the corridors, the seven most prospective
are being followed up on in the current program, which will extend through
February. This data will be used for final targeting in advance of drilling
anticipated to commence in March 2014.
About the Western Athabasca Syndicate:
The Western Athabasca Syndicate is a strategic partnership formed between
Skyharbour, Athabasca Nuclear, Lucky Strike and Noka to explore and develop a
287,130 hectare suite of uranium properties that is the largest land position
along the highly prospective margin of the Western Athabasca Basin controlled by
a single group. Under the terms of the agreement, each of the four companies has
an option to earn 25% of the five uranium properties comprising the Western
Athabasca Syndicate Partnership by making a series of cash payments, share
payments, and incurring their pro-rata amount of the total $6,000,000 in
exploration expenditures over the two-year earn-in term of the agreement. The
properties were acquired for their proximity to the PLS discovery and
interpreted favourable geology for the occurrence of PLS style uranium
mineralization. The bulk of the Syndicate land package is bisected by
all-weather Highway 955 which runs north through the PLS discovery on to the
former Cluff Lake uranium mine.
The Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan hosts the world's largest and richest
high-grade uranium deposits which have grades substantially higher than the
world average grade of about 0.1% U3O8. The Patterson Lake area has received
escalating exploration attention and claim acquisition activity as a result of
the new, near surface discoveries made by Alpha and Fission which includes the
recently reported drill interval of 9.08% U3O8 over 54.5 metres in drill hole
PLS13-075. Consistent high-grade, near surface U3O8 assays from Alpha and
Fission demonstrate the potential for high-grade uranium mineralization on the
geologically prospective yet underexplored margins of the western side of the
Athabasca Basin.
Qualified Person:
Athabasca Nuclear President and CEO, Charles C. (Chuck) Downie, P.Geo., is the
Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the
technical information in this release.
About Noka Resources Inc.:
Noka Resources Inc. is a junior exploration company with a focus on uranium in
the prolific Athabasca Basin, Northern Saskatchewan. Noka's exploration strategy
is focused in relatively underexplored areas of the Athabasca Basin Region,
targeting favourable geology and structure amenable to near surface,
unconformity-style uranium mineralization.
With a total land position of 488,463 hectares, Noka holds one of the largest
geologically prospective land packages in the region through a 100% interest in
the Clearwater and Athabasca North group of properties, as well as a 25%
interest in the Western Athabasca Syndicate group of properties.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nav Dhaliwal, President and CEO
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term
is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be
"forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than
statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that
management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although
management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not
guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes
no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's
beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes,
continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or
business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at
www.sedar.com for further information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Noka Resources Inc.
Nav Dhaliwal
President and CEO
(604) 678-5308
nav@nokaresources.com
www.nokaresources.com