Okapi Resources is set to dive into a maiden exploration program across a range of exploration projects at its Athabasca Basin uranium tenements in Canada. It has recently completed a comprehensive analysis of satellite image data from its Newnham Lake and Perch projects showing a bevy of attractive targets that call for a closer look.
The company says the boots-on-the-ground evaluation of its uranium turf will include the geologic mapping of structures, lithology and alteration in conjunction with geochemical analysis of rocks.
Management has said the goal of the campaign is to vector in on drill targets ahead of a looming winter probe.
Okapi has its foot on an extensive land package in the Athabasca Basin that includes six project zones totalling more than 55,000 hectares.
Curiously, management says five of the projects are in the Athabasca Basin's boundary, where the depth to the unconformity is typically under 100m, making them excellent for targeting shallow high-grade unconformity-related uranium deposits along with near-surface basement-hosted resources.
Okapi says its Newnham Lake and Perch projects, which are along the north-eastern border of the Athabasca Basin have the potential to contain tier-1 uranium deposits.
According to the company, the projects, that stretch across the north-eastern rim of the Athabasca Basin, are its main priority. They collectively take in 15 mining claims totalling about 18,500 hectares.
Historical drilling across the two projects has delivered multiple ore-grade intercepts of up to 2000 parts per million triuranium octoxide in very shallow probes.
Okapi says the Athabasca Basin unconformity at Newnham Lake is at a depth of about 100m, which eliminates the need to sink deep holes and expensive holes to extract the ground's uranium.
The company’s revived exploration focus will also see it explore its Middle Lake project, which, like its Newnham Lake and Perch projects, form part of its larger Athabasca Basin uranium tenements.
Middle Lake comprises three mining tenements that span about 4800 hectares and straddle the southern limits of the Carswell Structure that is thought to be home to a number of large uranium deposits.
The Middle Lake project has a long history of exploration, with the most recent activity in 2015 consisting of a 17-hole shallow drilling campaign totalling 1851m.
The campaign revealed a slew of anomalous radioactivity and uranium concentrations linked to graphitic rocks.
The project is also 4km south-east of the Cluff Lake mine, which produced 64.2 million pounds of triuranium octoxide at a grade of 0.92 percent between 1988 and 2002.
With plenty of targets to chase across its Athabasca Basin uranium tenements, Okapi may be set for a frantic year ahead.
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