Thunderbird swoops on hot Canadian uranium basin

Thunderbird Resources (formerly Valor Resources) has assembled a surprising array of interesting-looking uranium and lithium targets in some of the hottest mineral territories in the world, including Canada’s Athabasca uranium basin and Ontario, which is a now world-class lithium province.

The Athabasca Basin is remarkable for its average uranium grades of about 2 per cent and its massive-scale deposits – and Thunderbird appears to have somehow managed to pick the eyes out of it, timing its new uranium rush perfectly.

Notably, the Athabasca Basin has been historically responsible for churning out 20 per cent of the world’s primary uranium production and it has a six- decade history of producing the controversial mineral.

Thunderbird has a dual strategy of riding the current uranium wave while continuing to get set for what many critics believe will be the imminent third coming of the lithium market. It has pulled together five prospective uranium projects in the past few years in the Athabasca that are surrounded on all sides by massive-scale uranium discoveries in central Canada.

It also has its foot on option agreements to pick up three lithium prospects with solid early shows in the lithium-rich Canadian province of Ontario. With its recent name change from Valor, Thunderbird has solidified its new direction into uranium and lithium in Canada.

The Athabasca Basin is arguably most famous for the McArthur River uranium mine that boasts a massive 392 million-pound reserve going a ridiculously high 6.89 per cent uranium oxide. Just to the north-east of that, the Cigar Lake mine reserve clocks in at an even higher 15.9 per cent uranium oxide at its 165 million-pound reserve.

Such is the nature of the Athabasca.

To the west of the basin, the former Cluff Lake mine made a name for itself historically after pumping out 62.5 million pounds of uranium oxide going 0.92 per cent.

Big grades often mean big numbers when it comes to financial projections and NexGen Energy’s Arrow uranium deposit in the south-west of the basin comes replete with biblical-scale financials.

In fact, the average annual EBITDA predicted in NexGen’s Arrow study at US$100 (AU$156) per pound uranium for the first five years comes in at a herculean US$3.39 billion (AU$5.28 billion) … and that’s per year. The following five years show about US$1.86 billion (AU$2.9 billion) a year in EBITDA.

Despite these and other major historical discoveries in the region, the Athabasca Basin nonetheless has been underexplored for the past 40 years, with minimal modern exploration undertaken.

However, the 16-year high uranium price of US$106 (AU$165) a pound back in February has set the uranium bulls running again and Thunderbird appears well-placed in the pack having spirited away most of its key Athabasca uranium assets in 2020. It is hard to find a spare centimetre of ground out there now.

Thunderbird’s Hidden Bay uranium project is the company’s top priority across all of its assets.

It is just 20km south-east of Cameco Corporation’s massive Rabbit Lake mine, the longest-operating uranium mine in North America. It has produced a staggering 203 million pounds of uranium to date.

Thunderbird has just received a three-year work permit, which includes the right to drill at the project. Those drill results will no doubt be highly-anticipated as Hidden Bay is essentially a treasure trove of geological goodies that all coincidentally come together in this single project.

The company has already identified at least five “gravity lows” from an airborne gravity survey conducted in 2022. NexGen’s monster Arrow deposit is based on a gravity low, as are others in the basin, so this is a good start.

A 3km-long “conductive trend” also runs right through the heart of the first, second and third gravity lows, further increasing the anticipation around the targets.

And perhaps as a final curtsey to the crowd, the “unconformity”, that pretty much every major discovery in the basin is based on, threads the needle between the first and second gravity lows and has excellent proximity to the third and fourth.

Importantly, there is also a spaghetti junction of faults and other geological structures surrounding all of the gravity lows, making it a seriously good environment to poke a few holes into. Put simply, those gravity lows look like they are screaming to be drilled.

Preparations are now underway for a maiden drill program at Hidden Bay, with plans to drill five holes for about 2400m. After that, Thunderbird will shift focus to its Cluff Lake project that sits about 7km east of the historical Cluff Lake Mine that produced 62 million pounds of uranium at 0.92 per cent.

Thunderbird’s Cluff Lake deposit is also 2.5km north-east of the huge joint UEC-Orano Shea Creek project that boasts a yet-to-be-developed 95.63 million pounds at 1.3 per cent uranium.

The Shea Creek deposit was discovered right on the contact of the unconformity that separates the Athabasca sandstone basin from the crystalline basement. It is about 750m deep.

Thunderbird says its Cluff Lake project shares a geological structural trend with Shea Creek, albeit the company has interpreted the 750m-deep unconformity that Shea Creek sits on as coming much closer to surface on its ground.

Creating an air of anticipation around Cluff Lake, Thunderbird says it has already located a geophysical conductor on that unconformity contact between the basement rocks and the sandstones – albeit slightly into the basement. Could this be a Shea Creek lookalike on the same structure, only closer to surface?

The company has kicked-off a MobileMT electromagnetic (EM) survey at the project area to help refine and prioritise the current drill targets. The technology has been used successfully at the nearby Shea Creek project.

The Surprise Creek project just to the north of the formal Athabasca Basin boundary is another Thunderbird project that needs more attention.

It is 30km west/north-west of the Beaverlodge Uranium District near Uranium City where an historical 57 million pounds of uranium was produced, with the Fay-Ace deposit of 42 million pounds being the standout project in the district.

Geological mapping and surface sampling by Thunderbird (Valor) in 2022 outlined mineralisation through a 500m strike length at the Surprise Creek Fault and rock chip samples up to 7.98 per cent uranium oxide and 0.67 per cent copper make it a high-priority target.

Historical drilling in 1968 returned 2.1m at 4.37 per cent uranium oxide from 57m including 0.9m at 7.5 per cent uranium.

The company will be targeting structurally-controlled vein-type uranium deposits at Surprise Creek, with the added appeal of the potential for unconformity-associated copper mineralisation in the southern and western part of the project. In fact, copper could be the “free steak knives” from the project.

Historical drilling results show up to 9m at 2.07 per cent copper and 27 grams per tonne silver at the Bob Lake prospect within Surprise Creek and 6.6m at 1.31 per cent copper at the promising Ellis Bay target.

The fourth of Thunderbird’s uranium projects is Hook Lake, with drill-ready targets after two years of rigorous analysis.

It is located 60km east of the Key Lake uranium mine where 210 million pounds of uranium was produced. It is also about 30km from recent uranium discoveries by 92 Energy at its Gemini prospect and Baselode Energy’s ACKIO mineralisation find.

Thunderbird has completed its expenditure commitments under the joint venture (JV) earn-in with partner SkyHarbour, being C$3.5 million (AU$3.95 million) over a three-year period, and it now holds 80 per cent of the project.

The company started on-groundwork in July 2021 with a program of reconnaissance geological mapping and rock chip sampling of historical uranium occurrences and uranium radiometric anomalies. Results from the program were highlighted by the “ridiculous” ultra-high-grade rock chip samples up to 59.2 per cent uranium oxide from the S-Zone prospect and anomalous results from the West Way and Nob Hill Prospects.

Early drilling at Hook Lake hit elevated radioactivity and associated alteration and a 2.5m intersection going 160ppm uranium oxide from 105.5m.

Following the drilling program, Thunderbird (Valor) completed an airborne gravity gradiometry survey across the entire project area to help identify new targets in May 2022. Following an interpretation of the data, 11 new geophysical targets have been identified.

While uranium is hot right now, Thunderbird still has one eye on the lithium market that many believe will undergo a third renaissance sometime soon.

The company recently acquired an option agreement for three lithium properties in Ontario, which is now a global lithium hotspot. Frazer Lake is the top priority from the three prospects, with outcropping pegmatites the source of much enthusiasm.

High-grade rock chips containing lithium oxide of 7.25 per cent, 7.02 per cent and 6.42 per cent have been sampled from the project area. Additionally, surface channel samples have produced results of 44m at 0.54 per cent, including 3m at 0.97 per cent lithium oxide and 3m at 1.27 per cent.

Thunderbird plans to be on the ground next month for mapping and detailed exploration, with a drill program of up to 700m scheduled to kick off in July.

The Jesaulenko prospect is 25km east of Frazer Lake and about 21km from Rock Tech Lithium’s Georgia project, which has indicated resources of 10.6 million tonnes at 0.88 per cent lithium oxide and inferred resources of 4.2 million tonnes going 1 per cent.

The third prospect is Morrison River, located 150km south-west to Frontier Lithium’s Pak project that has a resource of about 9.4 million tonnes. The resource consists of 6.7 million tonnes grading 2.02 per cent lithium oxide in the indicated and measured category and an inferred resource of 2.7 million tonnes at a solid 2.29 per cent.

In order to focus on its dual uranium/lithium strategy Thunderbird last year offloaded the majority of two of its copper projects in Peru. It completed a sale agreement with ASX-listed Firetail Resources, with Thunderbird retaining a 20 per cent free-carried interest in the Picha project up until a pre-feasibility study (PFS) hits the street.

With a total potential shareholding of up to 35 million shares in Firetail resulting from the Picha sale, Thunderbird will also have the equivalent of a 20.58 per cent equity interest in that company if all performance milestones are met.

Picha includes two key targets – Cobremani and Cumbre Coya.

Cobremani already has a solid drill result of 13m at 2.81 per cent copper and 27.1g/t silver from just 2m downhole. Cumbre Coya hit 15.5m at 0.72 per cent copper, 130g/t silver, 1.92 per cent lead including 1.7m at 0.5 per cent copper, 500g/t silver and 5.9 per cent lead.

Thunderbird also holds a 4 per cent free-carried interest in the Charaque project that is majority owned by global mining heavyweight Barrick Gold. Charaque already shows some solid results exceeding 2 per cent copper and up to 929g/t silver.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs is bullish on copper, expecting the commodity to experience a supply gap of 250,000 tonnes in the second quarter of this year. In the second half of this year, Goldman expects the supply gap to widen to 450,000 tonnes, resulting in copper rising to US$10,000 (AU$15,600) per tonne by year’s end – setting up a nice piece of blue sky for Thunderbird.

However, for now, it is all about uranium and it is curious that Thunderbird managed to sneak into the Athabasca Basin as far back as 2020 and snatch what looks to be a rolled-gold suite of uranium assets in a region that boasts such high-grade, massive deposits.

In the heralded TV series Thunderbirds are Go, the engineering brains of the international rescue operation is the aptly-named “Brains”.

And with the benefit of hindsight, you probably didn’t really need Brains to work out that a raid on uranium projects in the extraordinary Athabasca Basin back in 2020 was probably a good idea – although you would have needed some foresight and Thunderbird appears to have had plenty of that.

To quote those immortal words of that great TV show, “Thunderbirds are go”. Or in this case, with only a miserly 181 million shares on issue, “Thunderbird is go”.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au