Thunderbird Resources is racking up the uranium targets, with results from a recent detailed electromagnetic (EM) survey lighting up a suite of intriguing basement conductors over its Cluff Lake project in Canada’s world-class Athabasca Basin.
The company flew a Mobile Magnet Tellurics (MobileMT) survey – the most advanced generation of airborne magnetic geophysical surveys – in April this year. It is the only system proven to deliver geoelectrical information from near-surface to greater than 1km depth, with high spatial resolution.
The high-tech survey covered Thunderbird’s Moose Lake and Douglas River areas, which are both sited on the flanks of the Athabasca Basin. Management says the basement conductors it has now defined could highlight potential pathways for uranium mineralising fluids.
At Douglas River, a pair of high-priority targets have been delineated, coincident with an interpreted structural corridor. Encouragingly, the corridor trends north/north-east from the Shea Creek uranium deposits that collectively contain 95.85 million pounds (Mlbs) running at 1.3 per cent uranium oxide – representing one of the biggest undeveloped resources in the uranium-laden basin.
Thunderbird says the targets in the Douglas River area are unconformity-related, analogous to the Shea Creek deposits, but interpreted to be only 100m to 200m below surface.
Nearby at Moose Lake, a further three high-priority targets have also been etched out, one of which is coincident with previously-defined gravity and electromagnetic targets. The targets lie within an interpreted structural corridor that extends north/north-east from the Cluff Lake uranium mine that produced 62.5Mlbs of yellowcake between 1979 and 2002.
Thunderbird Resources executive chairman George Bauk said: “The MobileMT survey has further increased our confidence in the high-quality exploration targets already identified within our tenement holding at Cluff Lake. Our interpretation is that the drill targets along strike from Shea Creek sit around 100-200m below surface, presenting an outstanding exploration targe that is significantly shallower than the Shea Creek deposits.”
The Athabasca Basin is remarkable for its average uranium grades of about 2 per cent and its massive-scale deposits – churning out 20 per cent of the world’s primary uranium production over 60 years.
Led by supply disruptions with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the growing demand for nuclear energy driven by global net-zero ambitions, the price of the controversial mineral is experiencing somewhat of a revival. The price of yellowcake has hovered steadily around the US$80 (AU$119) a pound mark since hitting a 17-year high of $106/lbs (AU$158/lbs) earlier this year.
A World Nuclear Association report forecasts that nuclear generation capacity will grow from 391 gigawatts electric (GWe) last year to a total of 686 GWE in 2040.
Currently, 440 nuclear reactors supply about nine per cent of the world’s energy requirements. It is a number set to get a shot in the arm, with Russia constructing four new reactors and another 14 planned, a further seven under construction in India and China paving the way with 30 new reactors in the pipeline.
Even Sweden is considering lifting its ban on uranium mining to support growth in its nuclear power industry.
Thunderbird recently pivoted on its dual-commodity Canadian exploration hunt, offloading its lithium interests in May and freeing up valuable resources to focus solely on its enviable portfolio of uranium-prospective tenements.
As the clean energy transition gathers speed, there appears to be a reset in the global mindset on nuclear energy to provide a low-emission electricity alternative. And Thunderbird looks to be positioning itself to meet the growing demand.
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By Helen Barling
