CanAlaska Uranium posts highest grade at West McArthur

CanAlaska Uranium (TSXV: CVV) cut its highest grade intersection yet at the West McArthur project it holds in a joint venture with Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) in northern Saskatchewan.

Hole WMA076-01 in the Pike zone cut 14.5 metres grading 12.2% uranium oxide (U₃O₈) from 790.1 metres depth, including 5 metres at 34.38% U₃O₈, CanAlaska reported Thursday. That result, among the first five holes completed in the company’s winter program, expands the Pike zone’s ultra-high grade footprint at the unconformity by at least 15 metres to the east.

“This ultra high-grade intersection at the eastern end of Pike Zone is on an adjacent drill section and remains completely open on strike which is a very exciting outcome from the first few weeks of drilling,” CanAlaska CEO Cory Belyk said in a release.

“The style and grade of uranium mineralization we are encountering at (the) Pike zone continues to be very reminiscent of the nearby giant McArthur River tier one uranium deposit owned by Cameco and Orano.” 

West McArthur is about 20 km west of Cameco’s McArthur River mine.

Thursday’s report follows strong drill results last year at Pike, where in October an “ultra high-grade” intersection cut 25.8 metres grading 6.47% U₃O_8, including 4 metres at 22.78% U₃O₈. That was in addition to strong results in September and July.

Uranium momentum

CanAlaska, which holds 85.97% of West McArthur in the JV with Cameco, sits in a sector buoyed by uranium spot price tailwinds. Uranium oxide traded for $70.35 per lb. Thursday, down from its peak of $106 per lb. one year ago, but still higher than its price in the decade after the Fukushima disaster.

Canada’s uranium sector currently stands at an awkward crossroads in its relations with the United States, which purchased 27% of its uranium supplies from Canada in 2022. The Trump administration has urged the US Geological Survey to re-classify uranium as a critical mineral, a move that could spur federal funding and accelerate permitting for uranium projects.

Meanwhile, Trump has pledged to impose 25% import tariffs on Canada, with a 10% tariff on energy and critical mineral imports, though on Monday he delayed the tariff action by one month.

Confirming mineralization

The second drill at the Pike zone, WMA094-04, cut 5 metres at 3.04% U₃O₈ from 794 metres depth, including 1.5 metres at 8.87% U₃O₈ at the unconformity. The hole confirmed continuity of the high-grade unconformity mineralization at the western edge of Pike, CanAlaska said.

The third drill, WMA082-16, cut 4.2 metres grading 1.81% U₃O₈ from 805 metres depth, including 0.9 metres at 5.54% U₃O_8.  That hole confirmed the mineralization present between the two currently understood pods at Pike.

‘Pearls on a string’

WMA076-01’s “exceptional intercept” and the smaller step out holes quickly add pounds to the deposit at West McArthur, Cormark Securities analyst Nicolas Dion wrote in a note on Thursday.

“The other holes, while not as strong on grade-width, are still good results in the context of the basin and continue to confirm the existence of mineralization along the corridor (we expect ultra high-grade results could come from pods along the unconformity, e.g. pearls on a string),” he said.

CanAlaska expects to complete the winter portion of this year’s exploration program in April.

Company shares were down 3.1% to 91¢ apiece on Thursday morning in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$162.1 million. Its shares traded in a 52-week range of C$0.41 to C$1.00.