The Burro Canyon project comprises 76 leased lode-mining claims and 65 owned claims covering some 2,913 acres in total, in the past-producing Uravan Mineral Belt in Colorado, 200 miles from Shootaring Canyon Mill. The project is located in San Miguel County, Colorado.
Immediately adjacent to the property on the northeast is the Sunday Mine complex, currently owned by Denison Mines. This area has produced about 1.5 million pounds of uranium and about 10.0 million pounds of vanadium. Published reports suggest an additional resource of 4.0 million pounds U3O8 at the Sunday Mine Group. Similarly, the Burro mine to the southwest has produced over 1.0 million pounds U3O8 and 8.0 million pounds V2O5. These mines are in the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation.
The zones mined at the Sunday and Burro mines typically have grades of 0.20-0.25% U3O8. A published summary of the production from the Uravan Mineral belt showed average grades to be 0.25% U3O8 and 1.29% V2O5.
The structural framework of the area is a syncline that strikes southeast to northwest and plunges to the southeast. Outcroppings of Morrison Formation sandstones and mudstones, Dakota Formation sandstones and Mancos Shale sediments wrap around the northwest nose of the syncline.
A 17-hole drill program (20,303 feet) was completed in March 2006, with highly encouraging results. Of the 16 holes that reached the target Salt Wash formation, 9 encountered significant mineralization, and two can be considered to be well-mineralized. In addition, zones of anomalous radioactivity up to 65 feet in thickness were encountered.
The program was designed as a first test of the area, with widely-spaced holes (400 to 800 feet apart). The primary objective was to define the depositional environment prior to more closely-spaced drilling. The thick zones of anomalous radioactivity, located within sandstone horizons, are indicative of a sand channel with reducing capacity, a characteristic that is essential for the deposition of uranium. The substantial thicknesses encountered in the current drill program, when combined with the significant mineralization in 9 of the holes, represent highly encouraging results.
The holes were drilled by Bob Beeman Drilling, of Moab UT, using standard rotary drilling techniques. All holes were geophysically logged by Century Geophysical, of Tulsa, OK. Uranium contents were calculated from the gamma ray log, producing a record of eU3O8 (equivalent U3O8), an industry standard method for evaluating uranium mineralization. To date, no coring has been carried out on the project. Coring will be necessary at a later date to determine whether or not the uranium is in equilibrium. The equilibrium state is an indication of the reliability of gamma ray logging. Typically the older the mineralization, the less likely it is that disequilibrium will affect the relationship between equivalent and the true uranium content. Significant disequilibrium is not expected for this project.
The drilling results are summarized in the following table:
| Hole # |
|
TD |
|
Intercept data
|
|
SR-1001 |
|
1240 |
|
830.0-832.5 2.0 ft @ 0.026% eU3O8 |
|
SR-1002 |
|
1200 |
|
854.5-857.0 2.5 ft @ 0.038% eU3O8 |
|
SR-1003 |
|
1220 |
|
no significant mineralization |
|
SR-1004 |
|
860 |
|
no significant mineralization |
|
SR-1005 |
|
1100 |
|
no significant mineralization |
|
SR-1006 |
|
1160 |
|
987.0-991.5 4.5 ft @ 0.046% eU3O8 |
|
SR-1007 |
|
1150 |
|
946.5-951.5 5.0 ft @ 0.091% eU3O8 |
|
SR-1008 |
|
1100 |
|
no significant mineralization |
|
SR-1009 |
|
1100 |
|
no significant mineralization |
|
SR-1010 |
|
1150 |
|
367.0-369.0 2.0 ft @ 0.015% eU3O8 |
|
SR-1011 |
|
1050 |
|
abandoned |
|
SR-1012 |
|
1265 |
|
1144.0-1146.0 2.0 ft @ 0.094% eU3O8 |
|
SR-1013 |
|
1280 |
|
1142.0-1145.5 3.5 ft @ 0.55% eU3O8 and
1152.5-1156.0 5.5 ft @ 0.19% eU3O8 |
|
SR-1014 |
|
1360 |
|
no significant mineralization |
|
SR-1015 |
|
1312 |
|
no significant mineralization |
|
SR-1016 |
|
1356 |
|
1193.5-1195.0 1.5 ft @ 0.058% eU3O8 |
|
SR-1017 |
|
1400 |
|
1180.0-1184.0 4.0 ft @ 0.29% eU3O8 |
Additional work is planned for this property in 2007.
