Highlights
- The company is exploring a major uranium concession in southeastern Peru
- Concessions cover over 90,000 hectares (900 km2) in the Puno District
- Excellent infrastructure: readily available supply of labour, water and power; transport (major highway runs through properties); plentiful supply of sulphuric acid
- NI 43-101 resource statements completed for Corachapi and Colibri 2 & 3 projects
- Exploration currently focused on several high-grade anomalies on the Kihitian project
Key Exploration Targets
| Target | Ownership | Summary | |
| Kihitian | 99.5% | Current exploration focus. Over 60 drill holes to date demonstrating continuous high-grade mineralization over a strike length of 700 m. Initial NI 43-101 report expected Q2 2012. Learn more | |
| Corachapi | 99.5% | Drilling to date includes 10,000m (193 holes) by previous owner and 50 confirmation holes; only 32% of strike drilled to date and open at depth. NI 43-101 completed Oct 2010. Learn more | |
| Colibri 2 & 3 | 99.5% | 123 diamond drill holes to date; 20% of strike length yet to be drilled and open at depth. Updated NI 43-101 completed Sep 2010. Preliminary Economic Assessment completed Jun 2010. Learn more | |
Mineral Resources
Location
The concession area is situated in the relatively flat Altiplano of the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes Mountain Range. Elevation ranges from 4334m to 4580m above sea level. The nearest towns to the project are Macusani and Corani.
The closest airport to the project area is Juliaca which is approximately 180km from the southern boundary of the concession. The Juliaca airport receives daily flights from Lima and Cusco. The Interoceanic Highway passes 11km to the east of the property. An untarred road, in good condition, connects the project area to the Interoceanic Highway.
Geology
During the Miocene Period (between 24 to 20 million years ago), several volcanic centres in the Macusani District in Puno, southeastern Peru, were active. The animation below illustrates the how the acidic lavas formed into uranium-rich rocks.
Local Geology
In the Macusani region, late Tertiary tuffs, ignimbrites and associated sediments are preserved in a NW-SE trending graben. Much of the Early Tertiary and Mesozoic cover were eroded prior to deposition of the pyroclastics so they were deposited in part directly on the Palaeozoic rocks including Late Palaeozoic intrusives (Hercynian granites) and extrusives (Mitu volcanics).
The geological plan of the area indicates that the concession is underlain by rocks of the Neogene Period, Quenamari Formation (dated between 22.5Ma to 1.8Ma). The youngest rocks (Pliocene Epoch) are known as the Yapamayo Member and these outcrop over the Colibri Project. The older Sapanuta and Cacacuniza Members (Miocene Epoch) underly the Yapamayo Member.
The known uranium occurrences in the Macusani area identified by the International Uranium Resources Evaluation Project (IUREP) are associated with Pliocene Quenamari Formation tuffs, ignimbrites and interbedded sediments in a NW_SE trending graben. Uranium in the form of pitchblende, uranophane, gummite and meta-autunite occurs predominantly in a fluvio-lacustrine sediment between two pyro-clastic units. The thickness of the sedimentary unit varies from less than 1m to over 5m.
Other uranium minerals are indicated by IUREP (1984) to be hosted in acidic volcanic rocks of rhyolite composition that cover large areas of the Macusani Plateau in horizontal formations from surface to a depth of about 100m but these appear to be lenticular or confined to fracture zones.
Project Geology
The deposits are hosted by acidic tuffs with pyroclasts of size 60mm to sub-macroscopic. The main minerals constituting the tuff are quartz, orthoclase and plagioclase in a groundmass of amorphous glass. A crude bedding was evident some outcrops based on strata containing larger and smaller pyroclasts as well as differential weathering. In both cases a flat dipping tuff is interpreted.
