Highlights:
- District ranked number 3 in Utah for established unmined remaining resources and has been the most prolific uranium producer in the state of Utah having produced 77.9 million pounds of U3O8 through 2021 with an average grade of 0.30% U3O8.1
- In addition, the district has produced 10.3 million pounds of V2O5 at an average grade of 0.3% V2O5.
- Advanced projects include the North Lisbon Project where Urano has significant data and will be working on a NI 43-101 report.
- Early exploration projects include the Central Lisbon and Sun properties.
The project package contains 84 claims covering 2,084 acres (8.4 km2). The Lisbon Valley region is a historic uranium-producing district, spanning 16 miles in length and up to 1 mile in width. This region produced 78 million pounds of uranium between 1948 and 1988, accounting for 9% of total U.S. domestic uranium production during that time. Most of this output came from the lower member of the Chinle Formation, known as the Moss Back Formation.
Lisbon Valley ranks as the second-most productive uranium area of its size in the United States. Additionally, the region has yielded over 24 million pounds of vanadium oxide (V2O5), with the central and southern areas of the valley showing particularly high concentrations. 2
The district also offers significant exploration potential in the underlying Cutler Formation, which contains extensive sandstone units identified in the late 1970’s as economically viable hosts for uranium.
The vendors have provided the Company with a significant database for the Property consisting of drill logs for the most recent exploration conducted by Vane Minerals between 2007 and 2009. Lithology logs, property and workings maps at scales of 1” to 100 ‘ and 1” to 200 ‘ compiled by Homestake Minerals as well as various proprietary reports will be verified and integrated to prepare a formal exploration program to identify and quantify any remaining mineralization from past production areas as well as testing the underlying Cutler formation for uranium mineralization.
The uranium-vanadium mineralization at the Sun Uranium Project is hosted in the Salt Wash Sandstone as originally discovered in outcrops along the erosional edge of a mesa. These Salt Wash deposits differ from both the roll-type uranium deposits of Wyoming and the tabular-type deposits of New Mexico because of the universal association of vanadium with the uranium.
A small part of the area covered by the Sun Uranium Project has seen historical drilling and sampling, as recorded in a written report by the New Jersey Zinc Company3, together with other historical supporting information. Historic drilling in 1954, of 23 holes less than 100 feet in depth, from a very small area near the outcrop included 10 “definite ore” grade uranium intercepts ranging from 0.15% U3O8 to 1.50% U3O8. An early historical resource estimate made using data from the 23 drill holes was 32,100 lbs. U3O8, at an average grade of 0.20% U3O8.*
*The historic resource estimate is based on a report prepared by the New Jersey Zinc Company Minerals dated June 21, 1955, and does not comply with mineral resource categories set out in National Instrument 43-101. A Qualified Person (as defined in NI 43-101) has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources and the company is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resource. The company considers the historic information relevant and reliable, however additional work, including drilling, will be required to confirm the presence of a uranium deposit, and if present, to establish the amount and grade of any mineralization that is found.
Other historical exploration included a 243 lb. open cut bulk sample that assayed 0.44% U3O8 and 1.08% V2O5. A 2.5 ft long channel sample was collected from a short adit near the open cut and provided average weighted chemical values of 0.62 % U3O8 and 1.25% V2O5, as assayed by Climax Uranium Company, a major historical uranium producer.
George Westcoat, a consultant to New Jersey Zinc, reported: “Mineral outcrops were observed at several places along the rims of the Morrison Formation.” The consultant further recommended: “From the small amount of exploration done thus far, that a much more extensive exploration program be instituted.” His recommendations included further drilling to a depth of at least 200 ft.
In addition to historic drilling and sampling, seven radiometric anomalies were later identified within the area of the Sun Uranium Project in an airborne radiometric survey flown by the U.S. Atomic Energy Agency.
Qualified Person
Technical information on this webpage has been approved by Douglas Underhill, PhD. Geology, MBA, CPG, a Director of Urano Energy Corp. and “Qualified Person” as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
References
1 Mills, S.E. and Jordan, B., 2021, Uranium and vanadium resources of Utah—an update in the era of critical minerals and carbon neutrality: Utah Geological Survey Open-File Report 735, 26 p., 1 appendix,
²Chenoweth, 2006, Utah Geological Association Publication 32
3Westcoat, George J., Consultant, 1954, “Memorandum report on 104 Sinder and Sunset mineral claims, Grease Wood Canyon District, San Juan County, Utah”.