Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 25, 2024) - Aero Energy Ltd (TSXV: AERO) (OTC Pink: AAUGF) (FSE: UU3) ("Aero" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that drilling activities have commenced at the Company's Sun Dog Uranium Project ("Sun Dog", or the "Project") located near Uranium City in northwestern Saskatchewan (Figure 1). Field crews have arrived at the Project and drilling has commenced. The drill program is being funded by Aero and operated by Standard Uranium Ltd. ("Standard") (TSXV: STND), pursuant to the underlying option agreement between the companies.
Highlights:
- Drilling Underway: Drilling activities began on July 23, 2024. Approximately 1,000-1,200 metres are planned across 5-7 drill holes targeting shallow high-grade basement-hosted uranium mineralization, beginning with the Wishbone target area (Figure 2).
- Undrilled & Shallow Drill Targets: Drill plans comprise helicopter-supported diamond drilling focused on high-priority targets refined by geophysical work completed by the Company earlier this year, bolstered by recent prospecting and identification of strong radioactivity at surface within ideal uranium host rocks.
- Untapped Uranium Potential: Drilling will focus on target areas along refined VTEMTM corridors with the proven exploration thesis of focusing on major conductor trends associated with cross-cutting faults and surficial radioactivity expressions.
- Fully Funded: The drill program is fully funded and may be expanded based on results.
Caption: Aero Energy and Standard Uranium Personnel Prospecting Upcoming Drill Targets
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Galen McNamara, CEO of Aero Energy, stated, "With drilling now underway at Sun Dog we are very much looking forward to testing the targets. Each target was carefully chosen based on a number of features and strengthened by the identification of favourable radioactive host rocks at surface. In my experience, targets like this are rare so I'm glad we are in a position to quickly test them via drilling."
Figure 1: Overview of the Sun Dog Project highlighting 2024 summer drill target areas, high-grade uranium occurrences, and EM-conductors.
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Figure 2: Detail map of the Wishbone target area highlighting newly discovered mineralized graphitic metapelite outcrop, anomalous surface radioactivity***, and untested VTEM conductors. The first drill hole of the 2024 program will test the Wishbone target for the first time.
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2024 Summer Drill Program
Diamond drilling on the first hole is currently underway. This program will comprise approximately 1,000-1,200 metres of drilling at high-priority target areas following completion of a VTEM Plus survey and geophysical modeling earlier this year.
Target Selection for 2024 Drill Campaign
Targets were selected and prioritized through an iterative approach working in collaboration with the teams from Standard and Convolutions Geoscience. Recent prospecting and mapping at the Wishbone, McNie, and Spring-Dome target areas has outlined multiple outcrops of favourable uranium host-rocks, including graphitic pelite, which is commonly radioactive over >200 m of collective strike length. Structural measurements and radioactivity mapping has further refined drill targets in these areas.
Targets are ranked and prioritized based on geophysical signature, geological/structural setting, proximity to historical uranium occurrences of interest, and the Company's recent prospecting and mapping campaign. A total of seven priority targets were identified (Figure 1) to encompass a variety of target types and provide a third phase of regional testing across the Project:
Wishbone Target Area:
- Approximately five kilometres of strike length along a regional scale anticline, defined by strong VTEM conductors with associated radioactivity that has never been drill tested.
- Graphitic pelitic rocks have been mapped along both fold limbs, hosting strong radioactivity up to 22,300 cps.
- Mineralized cross-cutting faults have been mapped in the overlying rocks which intersect the uranium-bearing graphitic pelite unit.
- Historical outcrop sampling at the northwestern graphitic pelite exposure returned assay results of 0.32% U3O8 and 0.30% Cu (SMDI #2095).
McNie Target Area:
- Approximately four kilometres of untested VTEM conductor strike length.
- The corridors are off-set by significant E-W trending regional faults, which host known uranium showings to the east towards the newly discovered zone at target H15 on the Murmac Project, and to the west towards the past-producing Gulch uranium mine.
Spring-Dome Target Area:
- Historically explored Gunnar-style target focused on mineralized carbonatized granites and pitchblende veins and fractures.
- The Spring-Dome area has been historically drilled with intersections over 1.0% U3O8; however, several showings of uranium south of known drilling with values up to 17.4% U3O8 and radioactivity readings >65,535 cps have not been properly drill-tested.
- The Company is currently evaluating the priority of this area through prospecting, mapping, and geological modeling. The target area south of Spring Lake represents the possibility of a uranium deposit akin to the nearby past-producing "Beaverlodge-style" Gunnar mine.
Other high-priority target areas including Haven, Java, and Skye are being reviewed with new datasets and models for a possible winter drill program in 2025.
*Natural gamma radiation in outcrop reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a handheld RS-125 super-spectrometer. Readers are cautioned that scintillometer and gamma probe readings are not uniformly or directly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured and should be treated only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive minerals.
**The Company considers uranium mineralization with concentrations greater than 1.0 wt% U3O8 to be "high-grade".
*** The Company considers radioactivity readings greater than 300 counts per second (cps) to be "anomalous".
Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Galen McNamara, P. Geo., CEO of the Company and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Historical data disclosed in this news release relating to sampling results on the Sun Dog Project is historical in nature. Neither the Company nor a qualified person has yet verified this data and therefore investors should not place undue reliance on such data. The Company's future exploration work will include verification of the data. The Company considers historical results to be relevant as an exploration guide and to assess the mineralization as well as economic potential of the Project.
About the Sun Dog Project
Sun Dog covers an area of 48,443 acres in nine mining claims, located 15 km from Uranium City on the northern margin of the Athabasca Basin. It hosts the historical Gunnar Uranium Mine, discovered in 1952, which doubled Canada's uranium production and became the largest uranium producer globally in 1956. The Gunnar Mine produced approximately 18M lbs of U3O8 between 1953 and 19811,2.
About Aero Energy Limited
Aero Energy is a mineral exploration and development company advancing a district-scale 250,000-acre land package in the historic Uranium City district within Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. Aero Energy is focused on uncovering high-grade uranium deposits across its flagship optioned properties - Sun Dog, Strike, and Murmac - in addition to its fully owned properties. With the application of modern exploration techniques, the Company has identified over 50 shallow drill-ready targets and 125 kilometres of target horizon on the frontier north rim of the Athabasca Basin. Aero Energy is tapping into the Athabasca Basin's emerging potential for high-grade, unconformity-style mineralization.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Galen McNamara, Chief Executive Officer
Further information on the Company can be found on the Company's website at aeroenergy.ca and at www.sedarplus.ca, or by contacting the Company by email at info@aeroenergy.ca.
References
- 2022 Winter Mineral Assessment Report, Sun Dog Property, Northern Saskatchewan, Canada, Standard Uranium, 2022
- Information obtained from Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index and historical report from Uranium City Resources, 2007
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
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 news release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. The forward-looking information contained herein is provided for the purpose of assisting readers in understanding management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. These forward‐looking statements or information relate to, among other things the exploration and development of the Company's mineral exploration projects including completion of drilling activities.
Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual actions, events or results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: the requirement for regulatory approvals; enhanced uncertainty in global financial markets as a result of the public health crises; unquantifiable risks related to government actions and interventions; stock market volatility; regulatory restrictions; and other related risks and uncertainties.
Forward-looking information are based on management of the parties' reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on such management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. 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. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
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