Final assay results for Fission’s Winter drilling

If you’ve not seen today’s press release, you’ll be pleased to know that we have just announced the final results for the 2012 winter drill program at the J Zone, Waterbury Lake, where 36 of the 49 step-out and infill holes (73.5% drilling success) intersected mineralization. Overall, drilling successfully widened the lateral north-south mineralized dimensions by up to 55m and confirmed continuity of wide widths of mineralization in areas tested by earlier programs (See press release dated June 4, 2012).

As you’ll see from the data included in the release results continue to demonstrate the significant potential for growing the J Zone, which remains open along strike and laterally to the north and south, as well as in the sandstone above the unconformity, and in the basement below.

J Zone: Winter 2012 Assay Highlights
Uranium mineralization was intersected all along the J-Zone’s east-west strike length, which now extends for 667m from the Rio Tinto property boundary, west to Hole WAT 12-281 on Line 540W.
Generally, wider intervals of discrete mineralization were intersected in the J Zone Areas “B” (Line 225W-435W) and “C” (Line 450W-540W), as compared to previous drilling,  including widths up to 23.0m (WAT12-226), 18.5m (WAT12-293), 12.5m and 13.5m (WAT12-229) and 14.0m (WAT12-237B) (as measured down-hole; not necessarily true width).

Be sure to check out the press release for Data summaries as well as more detailed data tables and as ever, if you have any questions be sure to get in touch.

Dev Randhawa

PLS Update: Drilling results indicate presence of uranium-rich system

If you’ve not seen today’s press release , we’ve just announced assay results received from our  16 hole winter 2012 exploratory drill program at PLS. If you’re familiar with PLS, you’ll know that we previously discovered a high-grade boulder field on the property. The results of the recent drill program confirm the discovery of several holes with broad anomalous geochemistry signatures.

In particular, the last four drill holes, PLS12-013 to PLS12-016, all drilled along the PL-3B EM Conductor over 823m of strike, intersected continuous wide intervals of anomalous uranium low grade basement mineralization as well as associated boron, indicative of the presence of a strong uranium-rich alteration system.

Overall, results from this initial program have provided further evidence that the source of the high grade uranium boulder field may be nearby.
I recommend you check out the release  for both the summary details and the full data and as always, please get in touch with any questions.

Dev Randhawa

The pressure for nuclear resurgence intensifies

Okay so the title of this post is a bit misleading because the nuclear resurgence is actually well underway and if you follow my blog or you keep up to date with the nuclear industry in some other way you’ll know there are more reactors under construction now than before Fukushima and with the coming end of the HEU agreement, a uranium supply crunch has been widely forecast.

In other words, the nuclear industry is stronger than ever. What I really want to talk about here is the pressure for uranium market resurgence because quite frankly, the market has not fully woken up to the fundamentals of the nuclear energy industry.

I’ve often talked about these fundamentals and rather than repeat them here, what I recommend is you read a recent article on Bloomberg that I personally found very compelling.

The article is about Paladin Energy and its potential as a takeover target and in discussing this subject the journalist, who has clearly done his research, delves into great depth about the nuclear industry and uranium markets – particularly in terms of where things are headed.

As the Bloomberg article points out - bringing new uranium production online can take many years. With demand increasing and countries like China rushing to secure uranium sources, increased merger and acquisition is not only likely, it’s already taking place. For example, Two of China’s three state backed companies charged with building China’s nuclear power plants - China National Nuclear Corp., and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Co. - have already begun to acquire overseas suppliers of uranium.

The nuclear energy industry is moving forward aggressively. In my opinion it’s only a matter of time before the uranium market is forced to catch up and the pressure for that to happen is increasing.

Dev Randhawa

Summer drilling update (Waterbury): Three Holes with "Off-Scale" Radioactivity Enhance J Zone

If you haven’t read our latest press release yet, I know you’ll be pleased to hear that our Waterbury Lake Summer drilling program is progressing very well indeed. I recommend you check out the press release for the details but in the meantime, here’s a quick overview:

Three of our drill holes, WAT12-312, 316, and 309, completed in the J Zone Area “B” (WAT12-312 and 316) and the J Zone Area “A” (WAT12-309), have intersected wide intervals of well-developed mineralization at the unconformity, including 16.50m, 13.00m, and 3.00m respectively.

Variable radioactivity, ranging from moderate to strong, including discrete intervals of “off-scale” (>9999 cps), was observed in the unconformity related mineralization.
• Hole WAT12-312 is a step-out hole that has expanded the J Zone Area “B” laterally to the north on L420W
• Hole WAT12-316 is an infill hole designed to close a gap in the mineralization between Line 300W and Line 315W.
• Hole WAT12-309 an infill hole on Line 015W in the northeast part of J Zone Area “A” between Hole WAT10-068 and 070B.
These three drill holes have successfully identified significant mineralization in the main deposit, with Hole WAT12-316 expanding the J Zone boundary to the north along Line 420W in the central part of J Zone Area “B”.

Be sure to check out the press release  for Data summaries as well as more detailed data tables and as ever, if you have any questions be sure to get in touch.

Dev Randhawa

A JV with Rio Tinto and a greater presence in the Athabasca: Our acquisition of Pitchstone

If you’ve read our latest press release you’ll know that we’ve completed our  stock-only takeover of Pitchstone.

Why do I believe this is a great move for Fission?

We now have a formal JV relationship with Rio Tinto, a very significant expansion to our presence in the Athabasca Basin, a highly promising property in Namibia and an additional $1.5 million in cash – all for  $5.8 million in stock.

Combined with our flagship Waterbury Lake property, which sits immediately adjacent to Rio Tinto’s Roughrider property, and our equally promising PLS property, the addition of Pitchstone’s Athabasca claims means that, in my opinion, that we are now the leading junior in the Basin.

This matters because the Athabasca Basin in the world’s leading source of uranium, accounting for nearly 20% of world supply last year. Any and all serious uranium producers need to be there, and recent announcements from China regarding Canadian mining companies (see my earlier post) make it plain that the Athabasca is the place to be. This is why we’ve been so aggressive with our exploration and why this acquisition matters.

You can read the press release here. As always, if you have questions don’t hesitate to get in contact with us with any questions. If want to stay up to date with company news, I also encourage you to sign up to our mailing list and follow us on Twitter.<insert link https://twitter.com/FissionEnergy.

Dev Randhawa

Electricity generated by Nuclear Power at all time high; more reactors under construction than pre-Fukushima

If you are in any doubt whatsoever about the future of nuclear power and its place in the world’s energy mix then I can assure you, the world’s nations do not share the same concern. As covered on CBC nuclear energy generation of electricity has reached record levels and, according to the NEA, a branch of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the number of  nuclear reactors currently under construction is not only higher than before Fukushima but is set to accelerate even faster.

The US, China, Russia, India, UAE, UK, Poland, South Korea… the list of countries building or planning to build new reactors goes on and on and the CBC coverage  gives, in my opinion, a good overview of where the nuclear energy industry is headed.

Dev Randhawa

$7.78 Billion per year, 32,000 jobs and energy security: The UK’s nuclear energy plans

If you’ve been following government announcements you’ll know that the UK’s government is solidly behind nuclear energy and, more specifically, a new wave of nuclear power station construction. A report published last week from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) shows very clearly just why the UK considers nuclear power as an integral part of the country’s energy mix.

The report, coverage of which you can read here , puts the economic benefits at £5 Billion (($7.78 Billion) per year and as many as 32,000 jobs. Whichever way you look at it, that’s a huge bonus and can be achieved while meeting another imperative which is to drive down carbon emissions.

What I find just as interesting, however,  is the report’s focus on something that not all industry commentators acknowledge: the need to secure electricity supplies. As worldwide demand increases, so the battle for resources intensifies. Nowhere is this more visible that in the area of energy.
Electricity demand is expected to grow as much as 76 % by 2030. Considering the base load requirements of national grids, it’s simply not feasible to meet this demand while also reducing carbon emissions (moving away from fossil fuels) unless nuclear energy plays a prominent part in the energy mix.

The UK government is not the only one that understands this. Russia, a canny player in the world energy market with huge natural gas reserves and other natural resources, is currently constructing 10 reactors, has another 17 in the planning phase and a further 24 in the proposal stage and they are just the tip of the iceberg.  China has nearly three times as many reactors in the build and planning stages and nearly six times as many proposed. Nor are these two countries alone. Thirteen countries worldwide are currently building new reactors and 27 countries are in the planning stages.

The economy, the environment and security – the reason that nuclear’s part in the energy mix will continue to grow.

Dev Randhawa