Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) said it has closed a purchase agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. to acquire a portfolio of exploration-stage projects in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada for C$1.5 million ($1.1 million). The company has acquired a 60% equity stake in the Henday Lake joint venture, 100% of the Milliken project, and a 50% equity stake in the Carswell joint venture project. With this transaction, UEC has added an additional 44,444 acres of prospective ground in the Athabasca Basin to its existing portfolio of nearly 1.1 million acres.
“This is our third acquisition in the Athabasca Basin in the last 12 months and builds on the landmark acquisitions of UEX and the Roughrider project,” said Amir Adnani, president and CEO of UEC. “This acquisition represents an important component in our strategy to assemble a premier North American uranium portfolio, featuring near-term U.S. production, Canadian development-stage projects including joint ventures, and a pipeline of exploration projects with excellent growth potential.”
The Henday project is 17,801 acres in an area, less than 5 km north of Roughrider, and like Roughrider is within the prolific Wollaston-Mudjatik transition zone that is host to many of the eastern Athabasca deposits. The Carswell project is 16,771 acres and just 1.6 km north of the now mined-out Claude Deposit at Cluff Lake. Milliken is 9,872 acres and is located strike-wise along the company’s Wolf Lake trend on its Hidden Bay project.
