Preliminary Exploration Results
Figure 1. Concessions held and applied for by Uranio AG in Argentina total about 224,000 hectares. This report describes recent prospecting on the 58,664 hectares of concessions that form the Olta-Malanzan Project in the Province of La Rioja, Argentina.
Uranio AG announces Preliminary Exploration Results on the Olta-Malezan Concessions in La Rioja Province, Central Argentina
INTRODUCTION
Basel, 4th August 2008 News Release 2-2008
Uranio AG, under its wholly owned subsidiary Uranio del Sur S.A., has started detailed prospecting and exploration on its properties (224,000 ha) in Argentina (Fig. 1). Described below are preliminary results from prospecting in the Olta-Malanzan Project where concessions total 58,664 hectares (Fig. 2).
Figure 2. Outline in red of Uranio's Olta-Malanzan Concessions (58,664 ha) in the Province of La Rioja, Argentina. Principal areas of anomalous uranium discoveries are identified, the best explored of which are described in Figures 3 and Table 1. Dashed yellow lines mark centers of Permo-Carboniferous paleochannels now marked by conglomerates, sandstones and shale. The borders of this paleochannel, which is more than 50 kilometers long, are marked with yellow-hashed lines. Basement to the paleochannel is metamorphic and granitic rocks of the Sierra de Chepes uplift. Most of the uranium showings are associated with basal conglomerates at the unconformity between the underlying basement and the paleochannel Background is an Aster satellite image (VIS); coordinates are UTM Gauss Kruger (WGS84).
Anomalous values from newly explored uranium showings on the Olta-Malanzan concessions in La Rioja, Argentina (Fig. 3).
ANOMALY | SCNT. URANIUM* | SCNT. THORIUM* | ASSAY URANIUM** | DEPOSIT |
BURRO | 801 ppm (0.08%) | 39.3 ppm | NA*** | Conglomerate |
CAIDO | 1187 ppm (0.12%) | 32.6 ppm | 503 ppm (0.05%) | Conglomerate |
CHIMINEA | 783 ppm (0.08%) | 45.4 ppm | NA*** | Conglomerate |
CNA | 1400 ppm (0.14%) | 3.7 ppm | NA*** | Sandstone |
LA ARADA | 752 ppm (0.08%) | 0.0 ppm | 1706 ppm (0.17%) | Sandstone |
LATA | 2966 ppm (0.30%) | 50.1 pm | NA*** | Conglomerate |
*Analyses by discriminating scintillometer (SCNT.)are reported as eUppm for uranium in ppm (and %),
and eThPpm for thorium in ppm.
**Analyses by Acme Laboratories Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Figure 3. Principal anomalous areas in the Olta-Malanzan concessions (Fig. 2) discovered during initital prospecting. Values from these areas are in Table 1. Map background is an Aster satellite image (RGB461). Coordinates and explanation of paleochannel marked in yellow are in the legend of Figure 2.
GEOLOGY AND TARGET OF EXPLORATION
The majority of the satellite image in Figure 2 is of the Sierra de Chepes Uplift. The area covered by the Olta-Malanzan Concessions in this figure consists of: (i) basement rocks of Precambrian schist, gneiss, granite and local pegmatite that have been intruded by Paleozoic granite, and (ii) a Permo-Carboniferous paleochanel of continental sediments that unconformably overlies the basement. The unconformity between these two units is marked by basal conglomerate. These continental sediments are part of the Panganzo Basin that hosts several uranium mines including the Los Mogotes Los Colorados Mine, which is a roll-front uranium deposit.
The majority of the uranium showings described in Figures 2 and 3 are hosted in the basal conglomerate, exactly at the unconformity. Thus, the BURRO, CAIDO, CHIMENEA and LATA showings in Figures 2 and 3 are characterized as "Unconformity Type Uranium". Uranium deposits of this type are among the largest and richest in the world. Famous examples are in Canada and Australia. Consequently, the potential for deposits of this type in the Olta-Malanzan Concessions is substantial and exciting.
The CNA and LA ARADA uranium showings in Figures 2 and 3, and Table 1, are concentrated in sandstone units. The CNA deposit is close to the unconformity, but the LA ARADA deposit is an unknown distance above it. Faults are locally mineralized, and are therefore, highly prospective. This is common to districts with unconformity type deposits. Consequently, concentration of prospecting along structures is being carried out. These fertile fault structures are being identified with the aid of Aster satellite imagery (Figs. 2 & 3).
Isolated, uranium-rich boulders in otherwise barren basal conglomerate occur commonly over the two kilometers between the CNA and CAIDO deposits. This, along with evidence of uranium leaching in the richer basal conglomerate deposits, indicates that mobilized uranium might be re-deposited elsewhere and deeper along the unconformity where reducing conditions occur at the level of a lowered water table. Using an analogy with supergene copper deposits, the re-deposited uranium could become successively enriched with each leaching cycle. Consequently, highly enriched, economic uranium deposits of the "Unconformity Type" probably occur deeper in the paleochannels. Likely locations for such enriched zones are at depth below sedimentary cover near the approximate axes of the paleochannels marked with dashed yellow lines in Figures 2 and 3.
CONCLUSIONS
Uranium exploration in Argentina offers exciting opportunities for major discoveries of new uranium mines. Detailed results from ongoing exploration on specific showings in the Olta-Malanzan Project in La Rioja will be reported as appropriate. Uranio's management believe that this project offers an opportunity of discovering major, high grade uranium mines-especially in the central and deeper parts of the paleochannels. Some of the largest uranium deposits in the world are of the unconformity-type, which characterizes most of the significant showings described here.
Chief Executive Officer of Uranio AG is Peter Goeggel, LL.M.
Disclaimer:
This document was prepared by Uranio AG. The opinions stated herein are those of Uranio AG at the time of publication and are subject to change at any time. The document is only for the purpose of information and use by its recipient. It is neither an offer nor an invitation to purchase or sell Uranio AG shares. A reference to the performance of the past shall not be understood as an indication of future developments. The information and analysis contained in this publication have been compiled from sources that are deemed to be reliable. However, Uranio AG gives no guarantee with regard to their reliability and completeness and rejects any claim for damages that may be the result of use of this information.