Atomic Minerals Announces Advancement on the Colorado Plateau Projects in the Southwest US
Vancouver, April 30, 2024 - Atomic Minerals Corp. (TSXV: ATOM) ("ATOMIC MINERALS" or the "Company") is delighted to announce significant progress on its strategic claim blocks located on the Colorado Plateau in the US Southwest, specifically at ("Harts Point"), (the "10 Mile Anticline"), and (the "Dolores Anticline"). This update highlights the Company's ongoing commitment to advancing its exploration efforts in these highly prospective salt anticlines.
"We are thrilled to update shareholders on our exploration plans and proud of the significant progress we've made on our claim blocks on the Colorado Plateau, including Harts Point, 10 Mile, and Dolores Anticline," stated Clive Massey, President, and CEO of Atomic Minerals. "Our comprehensive review and analysis of historic uranium mining and oil and gas drilling data have been instrumental in refining our exploration strategy. The historical drill data, particularly from the Chinle Formation basal sandstones, underscores the robust potential for uranium mineralization across these properties. With this promising foundation, we are advancing our drilling plans as we initiate the permitting process. Our focus now turns to utilizing our technical expertise, forged through decades of geological insights, to qualify and quantify the uranium mineralization at Dolores, 10 Mile and Harts Point."
Harts Point
Atomic Minerals, alongside Joint Venture Partner Kraken Energy Corp., successfully completed a maiden two-hole drill program at the Harts Point Uranium Property in Utah, as detailed in the (March 26, 2024) news release. Kraken's technical team reported the drilling proved the existence of the basal Moss Back member sandstone of the Triassic Chinle formation with gamma ray logs recording elevated gamma ray counts over a 12.9 metre downhole length in one hole and over a 16.2 metre down hole length in the other, recording a maximum reading of was 2,162 counts per second. Results are pending, and the Company anticipates obtaining permits soon for further exploration at Harts Point.
Dolores Anticline
Atomic Minerals has completed a thorough review of the Colorado Oil and Gas drill hole database, compiling the holes drilled along the flanks of the Dolores Anticline. The Company is now laying out drill hole locations, guided by the oil and gas drilling to allow commencement of the permitting process for summer drilling.
The Dolores claim group (SC claims) lies in San Miguel County, Colorado on the northern end of the Dolores Anticline and proximal to the southern end of the Uravan Mineral Belt ("Uravan"). The Uravan (a contraction of Uranium-Vanadium) Mineral Belt produced 75.5 million pounds of uranium oxide and 331.8 million pounds of vanadium from the Salt Wash Member of the Jurassic Morrison Formation during the years between 1947 and 1979 from more than 1,200 mines.* While these mining claims are located on the southern end of the Uravan, they were located in an area considered to be very favorable for the concentration of uranium mineralization in the Moss Back Member of the Triassic Age Chinle Formation and the Permian Cutler Formation as well as the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation. Atomic Minerals' geological consultants have confirmed the presence of uranium mineralization in several prospects in the Dolores River Canyon, where the favorable Moss Back Member has been exposed and appears to have a wide extent, which guided the location of the SC claim block.
*Source Chenoweth, W.L. (1981). The Uranium-Vanadium Deposits of the Uravan Mineral Belt and Adjacent Areas, Colorado and Utah. New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 32nd Field Conference. pp. 165-170.
In the late 1970s, widely spaced exploration drilling for uranium by the Hunt Oil Company and Newmont Mining Company confirmed the presence of the highly favorable Moss Back Member of the Chinle Formation on this anticlinal structure. Gamma ray logs of a number of these holes reported spikes within the Moss Back.
10 Mile Anticline
Atomic Minerals has completed a thorough review of the Utah Oil and Gas drill hole database, compiling the holes drilled along the flanks of the 10 Mile Anticline. The Company is now laying out drill hole locations, guided by the historic oil and gas drilling to allow commencement of the permitting process for summer drilling.
The 10 Mile property consists of four separate claim blocks totaling 10,400 acres, lying 25 miles northwest of Moab, in Grand County, Utah. The claim blocks cover the eastern and western flanks and southern nose of the Ten Mile Anticline. Several of the historic oil and gas holes throughout the area recorded gamma ray spikes at the base of the Chinle formation, which the Company believes are indicative of uranium mineralization. This oil and gas drilling indicates the depth to Moss Back is 1,400 feet on the southwestern flank and 2,390 to 2,500 on the northeast flank. Further supporting the uranium potential of the 10 Mile property is the 7 Mile district, located 8 miles to the southeast. Seven Mile is located on the northwestern flank of northern nose of the Moab Anticline and produced over 1,700,000 pounds of U3O8 and 890,000 pounds of vanadium from thicknesses ranging from 1 foot and 8 feet at an average grade of 0.26% U3O8 from the basal Moss Back Member of the Chinle Formation.
Source: Seven Mile Canyon Mining District, Grand County, Utah, USA. https://www.mindat.org/loc-203792.html. This description referenced Droullard, R.F., and Jones, E.E. (1955) Geology of the Seven Mile Canyon uranium deposits. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Rare Metals Evaluation RME-4066, 14 pages.
The data disclosed in this news release are related to historical exploration and drilling results. Atomic Minerals has not undertaken any independent investigation of the sampling, nor has it independently analyzed the results of the historical exploration work in order to verify the results. Atomic Minerals considers these historical exploration and drill results relevant as the Company is using these data as a guide to plan exploration programs. The Company's current and future exploration work includes verification of the historical data through sampling and drilling.
Qualified Person
Mr. R. Tim Henneberry, P.Geo. (BC), an advisor to the Company, is the "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the technical contents of this news release and has approved the disclosure of the technical information contained herein.
About the Company
Atomic Minerals Corp. is a publicly listed exploration company on the TSX Venture Exchange, trading under the symbol ATOM, led by a highly skilled management and technical team with a proven track record in the junior mining sector. Atomic Minerals' objective is to identify exploration opportunities in regions that have been previously overlooked but are geologically similar to those with previous uranium discoveries. These underexplored areas hold immense potential and are in stable geopolitical and economic environments.
Atomic Minerals' property portfolio contains uranium projects in three locations within North America, all of which have significant technical merit and or are known for hosting uranium production in the past. Three of the properties are located on the Colorado Plateau, an area which has previously produced 597 million pounds of U3O8; Three others are in the prolific Athabasca Basin region and nine uranium projects are located Northern Saskatchewan, encompassing a total exploration area of 6,495 hectares.
For additional information about the Company and its projects, please visit our website at www.atomicminerals.ca.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
"Clive Massey"
Clive H. Massey
President & CEO
For further information, please contact:
Mitchell Adam
(778) 960-0869
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor their 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.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Atomic Minerals Corp. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Atomic Minerals Corp. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Atomic Minerals Corp. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
###
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207323