VANCOUVER, Jan. 29, 2018 /CNW/ - NexGen Energy Ltd. ("NexGen" or the "Company") (TSX:NXE, NYSE MKT:NXE) is pleased to announce that the winter 2018 drill program has begun at our 100% owned, Rook I property, in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan.
The winter 2018 program will consist of approximately 25,000 m using eight drill rigs and focus on a number of key objectives. At the Arrow Deposit, drilling will focus on further A3 high grade zone definition, targeting the large untested areas surrounding the A1 – A5 shears, potential extensions of the shears particularly to the north east, and definition of newly discovered high grade mineralization northwest of the A1 shear (see News Release dated January 17, 2018). At South Arrow, drilling will continue to focus on defining the extent of uranium mineralization in all directions. Further, highly ranked geophysical targets on the Arrow, South Arrow and Mirror conductors will be targeted due to the results of geophysical surveys conducted predominantly in 2016 and 2017.
Development, Activities & Financial
- Pre-feasibility staged technical studies including geotechnical work, hydrogeological work, and metallurgy continue in advance of the maiden Pre-Feasibility Study scheduled for Q3/2018.
- The Company has cash on hand of approximately $155 million.
Figure 1 shows the winter 2018 drilling areas. Figures 2 and 3 show the three-dimensional geophysical signature of the Mirror target area. Figure 4 shows the high priority Area 8 resistivity low anomaly amongst others. The association of these anomalies and mineralization at Arrow and South Arrow is evident.
Figure 1: Winter Drilling Areas – ZTEM Resistivity – 450m Depth Slice (CNW Group/NexGen Energy Ltd.)
Figure 2: Mirror Target Area – Ground Gravity 3D Inversion (CNW Group/NexGen Energy Ltd.)
Figure 3: Mirror Target Area – ZTEM Resistvity 3D Inversion (CNW Group/NexGen Energy Ltd.)
Figure 4: Combined 2016 and 2017 3D Resistivity (CNW Group/NexGen Energy Ltd.)
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "The Company is focusing on multiple objectives in 2018 in parallel to drilling at Rook I. Key personnel appointments in 2017 has placed NexGen in a solid position to advance the various components of the Arrow Pre-Feasibility Study and other studies focused on optimizing the development of Arrow. The winter 2018 drilling will focus on testing in areas that hold high potential for additional mineralized shears, extensions of existing mineralized shears and new high grade sub zones in close proximity to Arrow. Further, drilling at South Arrow located 400 m south of Arrow, will continue to focus on determining the extent of mineralization discovered in 2017. Additionally, the Company will begin to test highly ranked geophysical targets within a 2 km radius of Arrow and along the Patterson Corridor, which is largely unexplored on Rook I, yet hosts four known uranium mineralized zones. We look forward to delivering the results of drilling and the development studies throughout 2018."
About NexGen
NexGen is a British Columbia corporation with a focus on the acquisition, exploration and development of Canadian uranium projects. NexGen has a highly experienced team of uranium industry professionals with a successful track record in the discovery of uranium deposits and in developing projects through discovery to production.
NexGen owns a portfolio of prospective uranium exploration assets in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada, including a 100% interest in Rook I, location of the Arrow Deposit in February 2014, the Bow discovery in March 2015, the Harpoon discovery in August 2016 and the Arrow South discovery in July 2017. The Arrow deposit's updated mineral resource estimate with an effective date of December 20, 2016 was released in March 2017, and comprised 179.5 M lbs U3O8 contained in 1.18 M tonnes grading 6.88% U3O8 in the Indicated Mineral Resource category and an additional 122.1 M lbs U3O8 contained in 4.25 M tonnes grading 1.30% U3O8 in the Inferred Mineral Resource category.
Technical Information
All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared by or reviewed and approved by Mr. Garrett Ainsworth, P.Geo., Vice President – Exploration & Development for NexGen. Mr. Ainsworth is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), and has verified the sampling, analytical, and test data underlying the information or opinions contained herein by reviewing original data certificates and monitoring all of the data collection protocols.
For details of the Rook I Project including the quality assurance program and quality control measures applied and key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the mineral resource please refer to the technical report entitled "Technical Report on the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Arrow Deposit, Rook 1 Property, Province of Saskatchewan, Canada" dated effective September 1, 2017 (the "Rook 1 Technical Report") prepared by Jason J. Cox, David M. Robson, Mark B. Mathisen, David A. Ross, Val Coetzee and Mark Wittrup, each of whom is a "qualified person" under NI 43-101. The Rook I Technical Report is available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
U.S. investors are advised that while the terms "indicated resources" and "inferred resources" are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize these terms. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the material in these categories will ever be converted into mineral reserves.
