Blue Sky Uranium (TSXV: BSK; US-OTC: BKUCF) is exploring for uranium and vanadium deposits within the Patagonia area of southern Argentina, the place it holds 400,000 hectares of potential tenements.
The Canadian junior’s flagship mission is its 100%-owned Amarillo Grande mission in Rio Negro province, about 25 km north of Valcheta Metropolis.
Nikolaos Cacos, the junior explorer’s president and CEO, describes the mission as one among Argentina’s most superior uranium-vanadium initiatives and says the “district-scale mission has the potential to rank amongst the biggest uranium deposits on the planet and have the bottom working prices.”
“As well as, the mineralisation might be mined utilizing a easy two-stage course of using low environmentally-impacting know-how and reagents. The mission additionally lies inside a semi-desert area that could be very sparsely populated, so there’ll no must displace anyone.”
Mineralisation at Amarillo Grande has been outlined in three zones— Ivana, Anit, and Santa Barbara — inside a 145-km lengthy and 50-km large development and happens at or near-surface in loosely consolidated sandstones and conglomerates.
A 2019 preliminary financial evaluation of the Ivana deposit envisaged an open-pit mine producing 1.35 million lb. of triuranium octoxide (U3O8) a 12 months over 13 years for whole life-of-mine output of 17.5 million lb. of U3O8.
All-in sustaining prices have been estimated to common US$18.27 per lb. U3O8 over the mine life. This value profile would place Amarillo Grande “within the lowest quartile of working mines globally,” Cacos mentioned.
The examine pegged preliminary capital prices at US$128.05 million, with US$35.46 million budgeted for sustaining capital over the mine life. Based mostly on costs of US$50 per lb. U3O8 and US$15 per lb. vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), the examine outlined an after-tax web current worth (at an 8% low cost charge) of US$135.2 million, and an after-tax inner charge of return of 29.3%. Preliminary capex might be paid again in just below two and a half years.
The early-stage examine was based mostly on an up to date mineral useful resource estimate for Ivana of 28 million inferred tonnes grading 0.037% U3O8 and 0.019% V2O5 for 22.7 million lb. contained U3O8 and 11.5 million lb. of V2O5. The Ivana deposit stays open and Cacos believes there’s “vital discovery potential for brand spanking new uranium and vanadium assets all through the property … so we anticipate to proceed to enhance its worth proposition.”
Amarillo Grande additionally advantages from its location in a major oil and gasoline producing area, which has infrastructure and a big labour pool. There’s a community of roads offering year-round entry to the mission. As well as, Nationwide Street 23, which runs via Valcheta Metropolis, connects the mission web site to a deep ocean port at San Antonio Oeste, about 120 km to the east. A railway additionally runs parallel to Nationwide Street 23, and two high-power electrical energy strains minimize throughout the property from east to west.
In keeping with Cacos, Argentina has three nuclear energy vegetation and is the biggest generator of electrical energy from nuclear power in South America. One other energy plant is below building, one other one deliberate, and two have been proposed. About 200 km west of the mission, a nuclear analysis middle known as INVAP is piloting a uranium enrichment plant.
However Argentina lacks a home provide of uranium, defined Cacos. “The nation is seeking to develop a safe provide of uranium, which may make Amarillo Grande a wonderful candidate to be the primary near-term uranium producer in Argentina, and will place Argentina as a strategic exporter of uranium to the worldwide nuclear power sector. It’s an distinctive setting by which to be creating a uranium mission.”
Uranium was first found at Amarillo Grande in 2007. Blue Sky first found the Anit and Santa Barbara zones utilizing an airborne radiometric survey, and a second survey in 2010 discovered Ivana.
Geophysicists advancing a borehole radiometric survey on the Ivana deposit. Credit score: Blue Sky Uranium.
Since 2016, the corporate has accomplished pit sampling, auger sampling, geophysics, and over 9,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling. It produced its first useful resource estimate for the Ivana deposit in 2018. The work additionally delineated a number of new targets for extra assets, together with Ivana West, Central, North, and probably the most not too long ago recognized Cuatro and Ivana East goal areas.
Blue Sky accomplished 40 drill holes (1,591 metres) of a deliberate 4,500-metre 2021 drill program in June. The drilling targeted on testing the Ivana North goal space, the place earlier floor sampling had returned 1.1 metres grading 1.40% U3O8, together with 0.5 metres of two.74% U3O8.
“We expect to obtain assays from the drilling within the subsequent couple of weeks,” mentioned Cacos, including that the drill outcomes “will permit us to judge the Ivana North goal, with the goal of higher defining the mineralisation in addition to figuring out additional targets for drill testing.”
The corporate plans to finish 1,500 metres of drilling on the Ivana Central goal, the place the primary six drill holes (286 metres) have been drilled in 2020.
The objective at this section of the work program “is to finish fences of drill holes over the goal areas to offer info at depth to help in vectoring in the direction of uranium mineralisation mendacity deeper under the floor,” mentioned Cacos.
Each Ivana North and Ivana Central are interpreted as being situated alongside the identical regional development because the Ivana deposit. Every goal covers an space of about 4 km by seven km.
Ongoing exploration and engineering research are anticipated to broaden and improve mineral assets and additional optimise and improve the economics of Ivana, Cacos mentioned. The corporate expects to replace the mission’s useful resource estimate for Ivana within the second quarter of 2022.
Blue Sky has about $3 million within the treasury, which Cacos mentioned might be greater than sufficient to fund the corporate’s work program into not less than the center half of subsequent 12 months.
The corporate’s different belongings in Argentina are Sierra Colonia, Tierras Coloradas, and Cerro Parva. The early stage initiatives are situated in Chubut province’s Cerro Solo district.
The previous Joint-Enterprise Article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by BLUE SKY URANIUM and produced in cooperation with The Northern Miner. Go to www.blueskyuranium.com for extra info.
