Athabasca Nuclear Corporation: Western Athabasca Syndicate Commences Drill Program at Preston Uranium Project

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Mar 17, 2014) - Athabasca Nuclear Corp. (TSX VENTURE:ASC) ("Athabasca Nuclear" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that the Western Athabasca Syndicate (the "Syndicate") has commenced its inaugural drill program on its flagship Preston Uranium Project (the "Property") in the southwest Athabasca Basin.

"Athabasca Nuclear, along with each of the other Syndicate companies, have jointly and fully funded the first drill program on the Preston Uranium Project. Our team has brought a project through to drilling in under a year which is a significant accomplishment. The majority of this specific drill campaign is focused on our Swoosh target, one of fifteen target areas identified to-date on our district-scale property. As we move forward with the current drill program and our goal for additional exploration at other targets on the property, we are excited to have joined a select group of public companies with active drill programs in the Western Athabasca Basin," stated Ryan Kalt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Interim) of Athabasca Nuclear.

Swoosh Drill Target Map: http://www.athabascanuclear.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ASC_Swoosh_Drill_Target_Map_with_RadonEx_Faults.pdf

A total of three initial target areas, out of a growing target base currently standing at fifteen, were selected by the Syndicate's Technical Committee for the first drill program based on encouraging fieldwork results and coincident anomalies from ground gravity, airborne and ground EM and magnetics (graphitic conductors and structures), radon, soil, biogeochem, lake sediment, and geological mapping surveys. This drill campaign represents the first modern-day drill exploration program on the Preston Uranium Project.

Approximately 2,000 meters of drilling by way of 10 to 15 holes with depths of 100 - 250 meters is expected to be completed at the Swoosh, CHA and Fin South areas during the current campaign. Based on regional data compilation, depth to the top of the target zone (top of basement rock) is expected to be relatively shallow, ranging from 25 meters to 75 meters across the three initial target areas.

The majority of the work in this drill campaign will be focused on the Swoosh target where five separate drill pads will test a combination of EM conductors, complex structures, gravity lows, anomalous geochemistry and elevated radon values. This target is a high-priority area given the coincident geological, magnetic, EM, gravity and radon anomalies that are evidence of strong fluid interaction and potential uranium mineralization as seen at other recent discoveries in the region.

Preston Uranium Project Exploration Corridors: http://www.athabascanuclear.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Patterson_Lake_Regional_Map.pdf

In addition to the Swoosh target area, the CHA and Fin South drill targets also represent high-potential exploration prospects given the presence of coincident anomalies and indicators similar to those seen at the Swoosh target and at other discovery areas in the Athabasca Basin. Preliminary drilling at both these two target areas is incorporated into the current design of the drill program.

About the Preston Uranium Project:

The 246,643 hectare Preston Uranium Project is the largest property proximal to Fission Uranium Corp.'s Patterson Lake South ("PLS") high-grade uranium discovery and the recent discovery made by NexGen Energy on the Rook 1 Project (see NexGen's news release dated Feb. 19, 2014). The Syndicate is the largest land tenure holder in the southwest Athabasca Basin region including properties strategically situated to the southwest and to the northeast of the PLS and NexGen discoveries.

Over $2 million dollars in exploration has been carried out to-date by the Syndicate on the Preston Uranium Project and many priority targets remain for further follow up with both fieldwork and drill testing. The Syndicate continues to employ a systematic, proven exploration methodology that has led to numerous uranium discoveries in the region and throughout the Athabasca Basin. This has been very effective in identifying numerous high-quality targets at Preston with similar geological features and exploratory indicators as those at the nearby PLS and NexGen discoveries as well as other deposits in the Athabasca Basin. The Corporation cautions that mineralization present on proximal properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Syndicate's Property.

Qualified Person:

Athabasca Nuclear Director, Charles C. (Chuck) Downie, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical information in this release.

About Athabasca Nuclear Corporation

Athabasca Nuclear Corp. (TSX VENTURE:ASC) is a junior uranium exploration company focused on the exploration and advancement of its significant uranium portfolio in Saskatchewan, Canada including the Preston Uranium Project, Patterson Lake East, Botham Lake, Parry Lake, Martin River, Karras River and Spring uranium projects. For more information on each of these projects, please visit www.AthabascaNuclear.com.

Athabasca Nuclear is the Operator of the Western Athabasca Syndicate, a group exploration effort of a 287,130 hectare (709,513 acre) package of uranium properties which is the largest land position along the highly prospective margin of the Western Athabasca Basin controlled by a single group (the "Preston Uranium Project").

Signed,

Ryan Kalt, Chief Executive Officer (Interim)

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently expected or forecast in such statements.

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