Keith Bodnarchuk, President & CEO, commented: “The completion of these geophysical programs at our 100% owned Ursa, Orion, Aurora, and Orbit projects marks another important step in Cosa’s path to developing a pipeline of drill targets across much of our prospective and highly underexplored portfolio of uranium projects. We consider the recent winter drilling results and identification of sandstone hosted structure and alteration to be a major success for the Company and are eager to use the results of the ANT work at Ursa to guide follow up drilling later this summer. With the completion of our $6.5m bought deal financing earlier this year, we are fully funded to pursue exciting drill targets at Ursa while also bringing the Orion, Aurora, and Orbit projects up to drill-ready status for 2025.”
Andy Carmichael, VP of Exploration, commented: “We are pleased to have completed the data acquisition phase of our geophysical program which includes three types of surveys to advance four of our key uranium projects. Cosa expects that by starting early in the season, results from the extensive Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) work at Ursa will be in hand in time to guide drilling to follow-up encouraging results from winter 2024 drilling and bolster target area prioritization on this 60,000-hectare project. We are excited to see the ANT results from Orion where work in 2023 highlighted compelling coincident sandstone and basement conductive anomalies, and airborne gravity and electromagnetic results at Aurora and Orbit will shape 2025 exploration at these shallow projects proximal to the Key Lake uranium mill.”
Ambient Noise Tomography Survey
Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) surveying was completed at Ursa and Orion in two phases, with node deployment in May and node pickup in June. Harvesting of data from the 930 nodes is underway and processing to develop a three-dimensional (3D) seismic velocity model is expected to begin immediately after data harvesting is complete.
As the Athabasca sandstone is relatively homogenous and seismic wave velocity varies with changes in the host rock, variations in seismic velocity can be attributed to post-Athabasca faulting and/or alteration zones characteristic of the region’s high-grade uranium deposits. Recent exploration drilling in the region targeting ANT anomalies has successfully intersected zones of hydrothermal alteration at depth.
At Ursa, ANT surveying comprised 746 nodes covering 27 kilometers of conductive strike length which hosts the zone of alteration and structure intersected by UR24-03 at Kodiak (see Cosa news release dated April 24, 2024), the Kodiak North, Smokey, and Panda West target areas (see Cosa news release dated January 11, 2024), and all three weakly mineralized historical drill holes within the Project (Figure 1). Cosa expects to utilize ANT survey results to guide a diamond drilling program planned for August and September 2024.
At Orion, ANT surveying comprised 184 nodes covering the kilometre-scale sandstone hosted conductivity anomaly coincident with conductive basement geology identified by Cosa’s 2023 airborne MobileMT™ survey (Figure 2). The conductive anomalies lie along strike of weak mineralization, encouraging structure, and hydrothermal alteration intersected at Orano’s neighbouring Parker Lake project immediately west of Orion and the ANT target area. ANT results from Orion will be used to guide follow-up to generate targets for first-pass drilling planned in 2025.
Aurora and Orbit Airborne Surveys
Airborne electromagnetic (EM) and gravity surveys were completed at Aurora and Orbit from early May until mid-June (Figure 3). EM surveying was completed by Geotech Ltd. using the VTEM™ Plus system with the objective of mapping basement-hosted conductive features consistent with prospective graphitic structures and/or large zones of hydrothermal alteration. Gravity surveys were completed by Xcalibur Multiphysics’ Falcon® Airborne Gravity Gradiometer (AGG) system with the objective of mapping gravity anomalies consistent with zones of hydrothermal alteration and to improve the understanding of basement geology. Top priority follow-up targets would be gravity low anomalies coincident with basement-hosted conductivity features.
Finalization of the airborne datasets is underway. Condor Consulting Inc., recognized experts in the field of geophysical data processing and interpretation, have been retained to perform a detailed interpretation of the results following receipt of the final datasets.
Stock Option Grant
The Company has granted 1,179,000 incentive stock options to directors, officers, employees and advisors of the Company. The incentive stock options will vest over a period of three years, have an exercise price of $0.305 per share, and are valid for a 5-year period from the date of grant. The options were granted pursuant to the Company’s incentive stock option plan which was approved by Shareholders at the Company’s Annual General and Special Meeting on June 12th, 2024.
About Cosa Resources Corp.
Cosa Resources is a Canadian uranium exploration company operating in northern Saskatchewan. The portfolio comprises roughly 209,000 ha across multiple projects in the Athabasca Basin region, all of which are underexplored, and the majority reside within or adjacent to established uranium corridors.
Cosa’s award-winning management team has a long track record of success in Saskatchewan. In 2022, members of the Cosa team were awarded the AME Colin Spence Award for their previous involvement in discovering IsoEnergy’s Hurricane deposit. Prior to Hurricane, Cosa personnel led teams or had integral roles in the discovery of Denison Mines’ Gryphon deposit and 92 Energy's Gemini Zone and held key roles in the founding of both NexGen and IsoEnergy.
Cosa’s primary focus through 2024 is initial drilling at our Ursa Project, which captures over 60-kilometres of strike length of the Cable Bay Shear Zone, a regional structural corridor with known mineralization and limited historical drilling. It potentially represents the last remaining eastern Athabasca corridor to not yet yield a major discovery.
Modern geophysics completed by Cosa in 2023 identified multiple high-priority target areas characterized by conductive basement stratigraphy beneath or adjacent to broad zones of inferred sandstone alteration – a setting that is typical of most eastern Athabasca uranium deposits. Initial drilling results from Ursa in winter 2024 are positive and include the intersection of a broad zone of alteration with associated structure in the Athabasca sandstone located 250 to 460 metres above the sub-Athabasca unconformity. Follow-up is planned in the second half of 2024.
Qualified Person
The Company’s disclosure of technical or scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Andy Carmichael, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration for Cosa. Mr. Carmichael is a Qualified Person as defined under the terms of National Instrument 43-101. This news release refers to properties in which the Company has no interest.
Cautionary Statements
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws (collectively “forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include but are not limited to statements regarding, the Company’s exploration and development plans. Although the Company believes any forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company’s management’s discussion and analysis as filed under the Company’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including the price of uranium and other commodities; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; the Company’s ability to operate in a safe and effective manner and its ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.