Uranium Energy Corp is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive property acquisition agreement (the “Agreement”) with Cooper Minerals, Inc. (“Cooper”) to acquire the Workman Creek uranium project in Gila County, Arizona (the “Project”).
In accordance with the terms of the Agreement, which is subject to satisfactory due diligence and the receipt by the Company of prior regulatory approval to closing, in order to acquire the Project the Company is required to make cash payments totaling $84,640 and to issue 300,000 restricted common shares of the Company to Cooper at closing.
President and CEO Amir Adnani stated, “The Workman Creek project represents the Company’s fourth project in Arizona, a state that’s pro-business and mining-friendly. This acquisition fits into the Company’s strategy of targeting properties for acquisition that have already been the subject of significant exploration and development by majors in the past. Management continues to demonstrate our commitment to expanding and diversifying our project portfolio at a viable cost for long-term growth.”
The Workman Creek Project
The Workman Creek Project consists of 176 unpatented lode mining claims covering 3,520 acres. The Project is located in a remote area of the Dripping Springs Mining District of Gila County, Arizona, about 30 miles north of Miami, Arizona and 85 miles northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. The current claim configuration being acquired by the Company represents the Workman Creek North and South project areas originally held and developed by Wyoming Minerals Corp (“WMC”), a subsidiary of Westinghouse, in the 1970s and 1980s.
The uranium mineralization of the Dripping Springs Mining District were first noted in 1950, but not thoroughly explored until 1955 following an airborne radiometric survey conducted by the US Atomic Energy Commission. The survey identified approximately 20 target areas and initiated a staking rush into the Sierra Ancha Mountains of Gila County.
It was not until the 1970s when WMC established a significant acreage position in the area and began a systematic development program. Major work conducted by WMC including the drilling of over 400 exploration and development holes, geological mapping, regional and detailed geochemical studies, petrographic studies, mineralogical paragenetic studies, geophysical surveys and metallurgical studies, all of which culminated in a positive feasibility study prepared by Dravo Engineers in 1980.
Based on favorable economics indicated in the Dravo Engineers feasibility study, detailed designs for open pit and underground mining were developed, coupled with a conventional acid leach, solvent extraction and ammonia precipitation process. Metallurgical leaching studies indicated that uranium recovery was in the neighborhood of 94%. The work by Dravo Engineers was further supported and complimented by work performed by Mountain States Research and Development of Tucson, Arizona, and the Colorado School of Mines Research Institute of Golden, Colorado. However, these historical studies pre-date NI 43-101 and should not be treated as current. The Company has not performed the necessary work to verify these historical studies and the results should not be relied upon. By the early 1980s, global and market events led WMC to abandon their mineral claims in the Project.
The Project was staked by Cooper and optioned to Rodinia Minerals (“Rodinia”) in 2004-05. Rodinia maintained the property until 2010 at which time they let their option expire. Recent work performed on the Project by both Cooper and Rodinia include radiometric surveys, geochemical surveys and detailed geologic mapping. All historic and recent data has been obtained by the Company and is currently being evaluated by Company geologists.
The uranium mineralization of the Dripping Springs Mining District is associated with the Upper Member of the Dripping Springs Quartzite of Precambrian age. The mineralized zones can be best described as stratabound which have undergone thermal metamorphism, resulting in the redistribution and concentration the uranium.
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