Saskatoon-headquartered Orano has taken an option to acquire up to 70% in the mineral claims and associated property comprising the Fir Island project, in the Black Lake area of Saskatchewan from Forum Energy Metals.
Under the agreement, Orano is to spend a total of $6-million on the property by the end of 2023 to earn 70%. Half of that should be spent before the end of 2021 for a 51% interest.
TSX-V-listed Forum Energy will remain operator until Orano has earned its 51% interest.
The Fir Island project lies along the northern rim of the Athabasca basin, overlying the Snowbird tectonic zone, a major structural corridor which, near the southern rim of the basin, hosts Cameco's Centennial deposit.
Forum completed ten holes for a total of 2 453 m of drilling in 2015, testing the Snowbird fault and the parallel East Channel fault.
Anomalous uranium (up to 444 parts per million (ppm) over 10.6 m in sandstone in hole FI-03), boron (up to 717 ppm over 10 m in sandstone in hole FI-08) and base metals (cobalt up to 0.48% over 63.8 m in FI-03) were intersected.
Forum said it planned to complete a resistivity survey by the end of the year and a 3 000 m drill programme during the winter of 2020.