Athabasca Uranium Projects

Cosa Resources’ 100% owned* uranium land package comprises over 180,000 hectares and eleven highly prospective and underexplored uranium Projects in the Athabasca Basin region, the heart of Canadian uranium exploration and production (Figure 1).

Figure 1 – Cosa Resources Uranium Exploration Properties

Cosa's portfolio is strategically located, with all focus Projects situated on or adjacent to prospective northeast trending uranium corridors (Figure 2). Long linear northeast trends with low magnetic susceptibility in the Eastern Athabasca Basin have hosted some of the largest uranium deposits ever discovered including Cameco's McArthur River mine.

Figure 2 – Eastern Athabasca Structural Corridors

*Approximately 3,470 hectares of claims on Ursa are subject to a 2.0% NSR, of which Cosa has the right to purchase 1.0% (one-half) of the NSR for $1.0 million in cash.

Located 45 kilometres west of the McArthur River mine and over 60,000 hectares in size, Ursa captures more than 60 kilometres strike length of the Cable Bay Shear Zone, a structural corridor with several known uranium occurrences (Figure 3), and potentially the last remaining eastern Athabasca corridor to have not yet yielded a major uranium discovery. This extensive Project has been tested by only 15 widely spaced drill holes that were guided by a patch work of dated geophysical surveys.

Modern and comprehensive airborne MobileMT coverage was completed by Cosa in 2023 which was used to complete a geologically constrained inversion and 3D conductivity model of nearly the entire Project. This work has identified several high-priority target areas comprising over 25 kilometres of strike that warrants aggressive follow-up work. Target areas are defined by appropriately sized sandstone conductivity anomalies that are potentially indicative of hydrothermal alteration systems like those found at Cameco’s Cigar Lake and McArthur River, and IsoEnergy’s Hurricane. None of the 15 historical drill holes on the Project are within several kilometres of Cosa’s priority target areas, confirming how vastly underexplored the project is. The depth to the unconformity at Ursa is expected to range between 700 and 1000 metres.

Figure 3 – Ursa Property

Given the presence of over 100 kilometres of electromagnetic conductor trends, structurally disrupted sandstone and basement, and intersections of anomalous uranium, the Cable Bay Shear Zone offers a highly prospective and significantly underexplored analogue to geological settings which underpin major current- and past-producing uranium mines in the eastern Athabasca Basin. Cosa will begin ground-based best-in-class electromagnetic surveying over several target areas at Ursa in Q4 2023 with follow up diamond drilling to commence in Q1 2024.

The Orion Project is located roughly 34 kilometres northwest of the McArthur River uranium mine and is interpreted to capture the intersection of the southern end of the Larocque Trend (host to Alligator Lake and Larocque Lake zones and the Hurricane deposit) and the northern end of the Cable Bay Shear Zone (Figure 2). Airborne MobileMT with 3D inversion was recently completed in conjunction with similar work at Ursa. Work at Orion identified a multi-kilometre-long sandstone conductivity anomaly that is also several hundred meters in width and height (Figure 4). This sandstone anomaly resides directly over a zone of conductive basement with structural complexity interpreted to be the area in which the Cable Bay and Larocque Trends intersect.

Though the project has never been drilling in this area, historical drilling on strike to the west on Orano’s Parker Lake project has intersected sandstone structure coincident with favourable illitic alteration and elevated uranium geochemistry underlain by high strain graphitic gneiss, all of which are potential indicators of a structural corridor and uranium bearing system nearby. The depth to the unconformity at Orion is estimated to be between 750 and 900 metres.

Figure 4 – Orion Property

The Aurora Project is located just 16 kilometres east of the Key Lake Mill and historical Key Lake Mine which produced 209.8 million pounds of U₃O₈ at an average grade of 2.3% U₃O₈ between 1983 and 2002. Aurora comprises nearly 17,000 hectares and straddles the southern margin of the Athabasca Basin, making for efficient exploration under shallow sandstone cover and the ability to generate drill targets by employing high-resolution airborne geophysics. The Project has seen no modern and comprehensive geophysical coverage, and like at Cosa’s Ursa and Orion Projects, can be significantly upgraded by completing modern geophysical surveying and3D inversions.

No drilling has been completed on the Project since 1979 and it is considered both underexplored as well as highly prospective for GMZ style mineralization (92 Energy’s Gemini Zone discovered in 2021). Historical drill logs from the area note several, metre scale intervals of structure and hydrothermal alteration in basement rocks. In conjunction with completing initial geophysical coverage in Q2/Q3 2024, Cosa aims to complete geological modelling and historical core review to verify the noted alteration and generate follow up drill targets where warranted. 

Figure 5 – Aurora Project

The Astro property is located 28 kilometres west of the McArthur River Mine, 17 kilometres west of the Fox Lake Deposit, and 13 kilometres north of the Millennium Deposit (Figure 6).

Astro covers a series of subparallel, northwest-trending magnetic low and high zones interpreted to represent prospective metasediments and buttressing granitic rocks, respectively. Historical airborne and ground EM surveying has defined 20 kilometres of EM conductor strike length within the property, including conductors extending from Cosa’s contiguous Ursa project to the west. Most historical conductors within the property extend to the limits of their survey areas, indicating significant potential to develop additional conductive strike length by extending survey coverage (Figure 6). The continuity of magnetic lows at Astro is encouraging, as is the property’s location between the Cable Bay Shear Zone and an interpreted corridor extending south to the Millennium deposit. Recent MobileMT surveying completed at Cosa’s neighboring Ursa Project has revealed that long and structurally complex conductive corridors extend from the Ursa Project onto Astro which are compelling exploration targets.

No drilling has been completed on the project. The depth to the unconformity is expected to be between 800 and 1000 metres. Given the success of MobileMT work at Ursa and Orion, Cosa plans to complete a similar comprehensive survey at Astro in Q2/Q3 2024 which will be followed up by ground-based geophysics and diamond drilling where warranted.

Figure 6 – Astro Property

The 12,835-hectare Helios property is located 14 kilometres south of the northern rim of the Athabasca Basin and 28 kilometres southwest of the community of Fond du Lac (Figure 7).

The broader area was explored from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1977 to 1981. Work in the latter period discovered the Ware's Uranium Occurrence, a zone of outcropping sandstone cut by uranium-bearing fracturing located six kilometres along strike to the north of Helios. Limited follow-up drilling in 1979 determined the fracturing penetrates the full thickness of the Athabasca sandstone; drill hole 3991H-03 intersected 0.18% U₃O₈ over 0.1 metres within a zone of hydrothermal alteration at the unconformity. Almost no modern exploration work has been completed since.

The northern portion of Helios covers the extension of two sub-parallel, curvilinear conductive trends flanking a central magnetic high. Results from a 2005 airborne electromagnetic survey suggest these conductive trends continue onto the Helios property. The Ware's Uranium Occurrence is associated with the more westerly of these trends (Figure 7). A 2007 drill hole testing this trend four kilometres north of Helios intersected favourable illitic and chloritic clay patterns over broad intervals in the middle to lower sandstone. The depth to the unconformity is expected to be between 375 and 500 metres within the northern target area.

The southern portion of Helios covers 15 kilometers of the Grease River Shear Zone (GRSZ), a major east-northeast-trending basement structure with a mapped length of over 300 kilometres (Figure 2). The Fond du Lac uranium deposit, located 29 kilometres northeast of Helios, is interpreted to be related to the GRSZ. Drilling immediately east of Helios suggests that post-Athabasca faulting related to the shear zone has offset the sub-Athabasca unconformity by up to 30 metres. Within the property, historical electromagnetic and DC-resistivity surveys have defined approximately five kilometres of basement-hosted electromagnetic conductors associated with the GRSZ with potential for a further 10-kilometre extension to the west-southwest (Figure 7). The depth to the unconformity is interpreted to be between 445 and 850 metres in the southern target area.

Figure 7 - Helios Property Map

Orbit is located 26 kilometres southwest of Cosa’s Aurora Project and 22 kilometres south of the Key Lake Mill and former Key Lake Mine (Figure 8).

Orbit covers four kilometres of the interpreted strike extension of a prospective, reactivated graphitic structural trend which hosts weak mineralization and strong alteration to the southwest, a trend which continues through Orbit to the northeast and onto Cosa’s Aurora Project. Historical EM surveys southwest of Orbit mapped over 13 kilometres of continuous conductive trend associated with a magnetic break, suggesting a graphitic structural zone adjacent to a lithological boundary on a trend that is sub-parallel to that hosting the mined-out Gaertner and Deilmann uranium deposits at Key Lake.

Limited diamond drilling completed on strike intersected reactivated graphitic structures hosting strong alteration and weak mineralization. Ten kilometres southwest of Orbit, drill hole TED-01 intersected 0.07% U₃O₈ over 0.2 metres (106.4 - 106.6 metres) within a strongly altered, metre-scale graphitic fault. Eight kilometres southwest of Orbit, drill hole TED-06 intersected strong alteration within the same graphitic structure intersected by TED-01, indicating structural continuity along strike and potential to host additional zones of strong alteration and uranium mineralization.

Figure 7 – Orbit Property

The 21,080-hectare Charcoal property is located 52 kilometres northeast of Cameco’s Rabbit Lake – Eagle Point mine operation. The property sits within a prominent magnetic low zone extending northeast from the mine (Figure 9). The property is 8 kilometres up-ice from a historical radioactive boulder field. As Charcoal is beyond the present-day limit of the Athabasca Basin, there is no sandstone present on the Property.

Castor, like Charcoal, lies beyond the present-day Athabasca Basin edge and therefore has no overlying sandstone cover. The property is located 55 kilometres north of Cameco’s Rabbit Lake – Eagle Point uranium mine operations (Figure 9). Castor covers a flexure where a prominent northeast trending magnetic low anomaly oriented roughly parallel to the Eagle Point – Collins Bay trend bends to the west. This flexure may be an area of enhanced structural complexity that would be prospective for uranium mineralization.

No historical drilling has been completed at either Project. Both Projects can be significantly upgraded by completing airborne gravity surveys with 3D inversion processing to identify basement hosted anomalies at depth and generate compelling drill targets.

Figure 9 – Charcoal and Castor Properties

The scientific and technical information in this website has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) and reviewed and approved by Andy Carmichael, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration for Cosa Resources. Mr. Carmichael is a Qualified Person as defined under the terms of National Instrument 43-101. This website refers to neighboring properties in which the Company has no interest. Mineralization on those neighboring properties does not necessarily indicate mineralization on the Company’s properties. Some Project descriptions refer to historical drill hole logs both off- and on-property. Cosa considers this information to be relevant to exploration, however these results have not been physically verified by Cosa’s Qualified Person.