NickelX (ASX:NKL) flags priority Canadian uranium targets

NickelX has spotted up uranium mineralisation and a trio of priority target areas ready for exploration at its wholly owned Elliot Lake uranium project in Canada’s Ontario province.

The NickelX targets were produced from a review of compiled data from its newly staked tenements.

The company’s review revealed sparse past drilling over the tenure and adjacent territory had intersected prospective mineralised conglomerates with equivalent average uranium values up to 900 parts per million.

NickelX’s resulting new target areas cover a combined 35-kilometre strike of prospective tenure, with the highest priority Crazy Lake-Gods Lake trend resting along strike from the 44 million ton abandoned Quirke mine once operated by BHP Group (ASX:BHP) successor Rio Algom.

“Our first-pass geological review has identified priority target areas with results from a complementary geophysical review expected shortly,” NickelX Managing Director Matt Gauci said.

“Importantly, as we are targeting strata bound conglomerate style uranium along underexplored interpreted extensions of a major uranium mining centre, the mineralization is often consistent in grade and thickness, making for rapid discovery potential.”

Now in a trading halt, NickelX has a geophysical data review underway to enhance the targets and generate more, while a field program is planned to begin by May.

Claiming Canadian uranium

An ascendant uranium price has explorers flocking back toward the great yellowcake endowment of The Great White North.

A cold war influx into Elliot Lake was once described as the greatest uranium prospecting rush in the world, with the district producing 362 million pounds of triuranium octoxide – U3O8 – from 13 underground mines packed into a tight 15 square kilometres.

A global policy shift towards nuclear has been tipped to push uranium prices even further after a 22-nation pledge to triple nuclear production by 2050 has seen the commodity’s trading price more than double over the past year.

The world’s largest uranium miner anticipates shortfalls over the next two years after its production cuts, and the door lies open for explorers to make their mark.

NickelX’s prospective uranium ground Elliot Lake near other Canadian deposits, including the Quirke mine that was in operation from the 1950s to 1990