VANCOUVER British Columbia, Aug. 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AZINCOURT ENERGY CORP. (“Azincourt” or the “Company”) (TSX.V: AAZ, OTC: AZURF), is pleased to provide an update on its operational plans at the East Preston uranium project, located in the western Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan, Canada.
Drill targeting and permitting are already underway and ahead of schedule. The proposed winter 2019-2020 drill program will comprise 2,000-2,500 meters of land-based diamond drilling with a budget of approximately $1.2M CDN. Drilling will consist of up to 15 holes in several high priority target zones.
“I am pleased that planning for the next drill program at East Preston has commenced and the Company is fully funded to complete a substantial campaign this winter. We have started prioritizing targets from the substantial, quality target inventory on the project,” said Ted O’Connor, director and Technical Advisor for East Preston.
The East Preston uranium project targets basement-hosted unconformity related uranium deposits similar to NexGen’s Arrow deposit and Cameco’s Eagle Point mine. East Preston is located near the southern edge of the western Athabasca Basin, where the relatively shallow exploration targets have no Athabasca sandstone cover, but this deposit style can have great depth extent when discovered. The project ground is located along a parallel conductive trend between the PLS-Arrow trend and Cameco’s Centennial deposit (Virgin River-Dufferin Lake trend).
The property-wide helicopter-borne Versatile Time-Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM™ Max) and Magnetic survey was completed in early 2019 and forms the primary dataset for target prioritization, combined with the knowledge gained from 2018 ground Electromagnetic and Gravity geophysical surveys and the 2019 drill program.
The A Conductor Corridor now extends across the entire central project area. This complex, linear, multi-conductor system hosts geologically prospective graphitic basement rocks with apparent structural upgrading and this system alone has approximately 15 km strike length to test. This conductor system shows multiple long linear conductors with flexural changes in orientation and offset breaks in the vicinity of interpreted fault lineaments – classic targets for basement-hosted unconformity uranium deposits. These are not just simple basement conductors; they are clearly upgraded/enhanced prospectivity targets due to the interpreted structural complexity.
The B/C conductor system also traverses the project area, with marked changes in orientation from NE to NW. The abrupt changes in orientation appear to occur at the intersection of a long NE trending structures interpreted from the airborne data.
Figure 1: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/422439e1-ab33-49e4-a885-d1311dcff8da
Azincourt’s initial drill campaign completed in March 2019 confirmed the prospectivity of the East Preston project. Basement lithologies and graphitic structures intersected in drilling are very similar and appear analogous to the Patterson Lake South-Arrow-Hook Lake/Spitfire uranium deposit host rocks and setting.
Trace element geochemistry from East Preston drill core sampling shows anomalous results for basement-hosted unconformity uranium deposit pathfinder elements: Ni, Co, Cu, Zn and As associated with graphitic intervals. Graphitic rocks hosting uranium mineralization are often associated with Ni-Co-As; Cu and Zn sulphides in anomalous, to substantial quantities. The presence of these pathfinder elements adds additional information and will enhance vectoring towards the most prospective areas of the conductor systems.
“All the work done to date, including multiple geophysical and geochemical programs, and even some minimal drill testing we completed last spring, has provided us with significant data on the prospectivity of East Preston,” said president & CEO, Alex Klenman. “The data emphatically says we are in the right place for discovery. The next step is to systematically drill some of the many priority targets we have uncovered. We are looking forward to the next step, and we believe there is significant growth ahead for Azincourt,” continued Mr. Klenman.
Figure 2: Project Location – Western Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada
Figure 2: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d3d8b7b6-b273-4a29-b391-d4ef2bcf25da
About East Preston
Azincourt is currently earning towards 70% interest in the 25,000+ hectare East Preston project as part of a joint venture agreement with Skyharbour Resources (TSX.V: SYH), and Clean Commodities Corp (TSX.V: CLE). Extensive regional exploration work at East Preston was completed in 2013-14, including airborne electromagnetic (VTEM), magnetic and radiometric surveys. Three prospective conductive, low magnetic signature corridors have been discovered on the property. The three distinct corridors have a total strike length of over 25 km, each with multiple EM conductor trends identified. Ground prospecting and sampling work completed to date has identified outcrop, soil, biogeochemical and radon anomalies, which are key pathfinder elements for unconformity uranium deposit discovery.
The Company completed a winter geophysical exploration program in January-February 2018 that generated a significant amount of new drill targets within the previously untested corridors while refining additional targets near previous drilling along the Swoosh corridor.
Ground-truthing work confirmed the airborne conductive trends and more accurately located the conductor axes for future drill testing. The gravity survey identified areas along the conductors with a gravity low signature, which is often associated with alteration, fault/structural disruption and potentially, uranium mineralization. The combination/stacking of positive features has assisted in prioritizing targets.
The Main Grid shows multiple long linear conductors with flexural changes in orientation and offset breaks in the vicinity of interpreted fault lineaments – classic targets for basement-hosted unconformity uranium deposits. These are not just simple basement conductors; they are clearly upgraded/enhanced prospectivity targets because of the structural complexity.
The targets are basement-hosted unconformity related uranium deposits similar to NexGen’s Arrow deposit and Cameco’s Eagle Point mine. East Preston is near the southern edge of the western Athabasca Basin, where targets are in a near surface environment without Athabasca sandstone cover – therefore they are relatively shallow targets but can have great depth extent when discovered. The project ground is located along a parallel conductive trend between the PLS-Arrow trend and Cameco’s Centennial deposit (Virgin River-Dufferin Lake trend).
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43- 101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Ted O’Connor, P.Geo. a director of the Company, as well as a qualified person.
About Azincourt Energy Corp.
Azincourt Energy is a Canadian-based resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of alternative energy/fuel projects, including uranium, lithium, and other critical clean energy elements. The Company is currently active at its joint venture East Preston uranium project in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada, and the Escalera Group uranium-lithium project located on the Picotani Plateau in southeastern Peru.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF AZINCOURT ENERGY CORP.
“Alex Klenman”
Alex Klenman, President & CEO
Neither the 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 press release includes “forward-looking statements”, including forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations that are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Azincourt. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information represents management’s best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual future results may vary materially.
For further information please contact:
Alex Klenman, President & CEO
Tel: 604-638-8063
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Azincourt Energy Corp.
1430 – 800 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 2V6
