When uranium was discovered at Rabbit Lake, Saskatchewan in 1968 (by the late Al Swanson) exploration permits covering more than 2 million acres in the discovery area were held by Great Plains Development Company of Canada Ltd. Great Plains was a Calgary based oil and gas producer controlled by Burma Oil, of London.
In 1969 R. W. Termuende became Mineral Exploration Manager for Great Plains and oversaw multi-million dollar exploration programs on these permits. Exploration continued until the federal government enacted restrictions on foreign ownership of uranium and uranium properties in 1972. Great Plains was deemed to be foreign and its exploration funding ceased.
Exploration work carried out from 1969 to 1971 was accented by the discovery of uranium in float boulders on Great Plains’ Permit #9 (now the Eagle Lake property). Exploration in the area from 1969 to 1971 identified a boulder train 1.5 kilometres in length. The boulders consisted of white pegmatite containing uranium stain as well as uranium/copper mineralization in sheared graphitic material. Four boulders reported assays of 0.19, 0.32, 0.56, and 0.50% U3O8. These boulders are adjacent to a prominent north - south trending fault structure. Associated with the high grade uranium and copper mineralization on the property was the presence of phenomenally high Radon 222 readings obtained from soil and water samples collected.
From 1970 to August 1971 Great Plains carried out extensive surveys and limited diamond drilling. The very high Radon 222 values obtained were not explained nor was the bedrock source of the boulders identified.
Subsequent work on the property by geologist Mr. Ralph Newson, P. Eng. in 1979 and 1980 resulted in the discovery of pitchblende mineralization in veins associated with fault structures. It is not known if this discovery explained the source of boulders reported in the late 1960’s. Newson reported in 1980 that “considerable uranium mineralization is present on the property” and that “the probability that this mineralization reflects the presence of a uranium deposit is sufficiently high that work should continue”. A comprehensive program was recommended to further develop the property, but was never carried out.
As the present Saskatchewan uranium rush was gaining momentum Mr. Termuende and an associate from the former Great Plains exploration team reviewed the data on this prospect in light of new interpretive studies and techniques that have been employed in the discovery of additional uranium deposits in the area, especially Key Lake (which is now mined out).
An examination of land holdings in the area revealed, surprisingly, that the area once covered by GP#9 permit was still available. It was staked immediately (i.e. late February, 2006) during the first phase of staking in the name of Eagle Plains Resources Ltd and is known as the Eagle Lake property. Subsequently Eagle Plains has carried out 2 more phases of staking resulting in the acquisition of the Jenny/Kulyk lake and Karin lake properties. Eagle Plains now has a 100% unencumbered interest in over 111,000 ha (677,200 acres) of claims.
The area lies within the Wollaston domain and consists of Aphebian metasedimentary gneisses and schists, including pelitic schists and gneisses with graphitic horizons. The claims lie 30 kilometres south of the edge of the Athabasca Formation. EPL’s focus will be to explore for uranium deposits in north to northwest-trending faults which are interpreted to have formed structural traps where uranium mineralization may have been preserved.
A property location map may be viewed by clicking here: Eagle Lake Uranium Project
Eagle Plains and our Option Partners intend to launch an aggressive exploration program including diamond drilling during the 2007 field season. |
