James Sykes President and CEO BASELODE ENERGY
Can you introduce Baselode Energy?
Baselode Energy is a uranium exploration company with a focus on making a discovery in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin, which is home to the highest-grade uranium in the world. We launched publicly in June 2020 and we made a discovery, named ACKIO, in our first drill program.
Our ‘Athabasca 2.0’ thesis is quite different from those of our peers, as we are looking for a near-surface, basement-hosted, high-grade uranium deposit whereas they are generally looking within the sandstone of the Athabasca basin. There are technical issues with developing a mine underneath sandstone, as it is spongy and holds a lot of water.
Can you comment on the state of uranium mining in Athabasca and Canada generally?
There are two big active players mining uranium in Athabasca, Cameco and Orano. They are two of the largest uranium companies globally and still operate underground uranium mines beneath the basin. The last open pit mines in the region closed in the 2000s.
Canadian uranium mining is different from Saskatchewan uranium mining. Uranium is ingrained in Saskatchewan mining, nothing needs to be re-invented here, everything has been in place since the 1950s. To pull off uranium mining in other provinces in other jurisdictions, like Alberta or Ontario, the authorities will have to implement new policies and create the policy space for things to happen.
There are existing uranium deposits in the Northern Territories and Labrador for example, that have been known for decades, and yet they still have not been developed. Some of these places simply do not have the infrastructure in place, there is far too much build-out to do in Canada when Saskatchewan already has everything in place. I think it will be difficult to develop a uranium mining sector in other provinces.
What are your plans for Baselode Energy in the coming years?
We want to discover more uranium and make Baselode Energy the best uranium exploration company in the world. We are fully funded to have an excellent 2024 and are planning to grow four of our projects, and we hope any one of them will yield an additional discovery.
Chris Frostad President and CEO PUREPOINT URANIUM GROUP
Can you provide an overview of Purepoint Uranium's 2023 field season and plans for 2024?
Purepoint Uranium has been actively exploring nine uranium projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin for almost 20 years, including key JV projects with Cameco and Orano, two of the largest uranium suppliers in the world. The company also holds a third joint venture with Foran Mining on a copper-zinc project in east-central Saskatchewan.
Our 2023 field season began with our flagship Hook Lake JV project with Cameco and Orano, revealing encouraging mineralization trends during the drill program very reminiscent of our earlier Spitfire discovery. As we enter 2024, we will be following up on the radioactivity encountered in 2023 to determine whether we are coming into a prominent area of mineralization. Additionally, the Smart Lake project, a JV with Cameco, is set for a geophysical program preparing it for our next drill program.
In the second half of the year, we will focus on the 100%-owned projects on the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin, with geophysical and drilling programs at our Turnor Lake, Red Willow, Tabbernor, and Carson projects.
How do you foresee more consolidation in Canada's Uranium sector?
We are not expecting much consolidation at the exploration stage, however, development-stage projects might see more consolidation, as seen in the recent merger of IsoEnergy and Consolidated Uranium. Investors prefer clear investment categories, making decisions challenging when companies diversify across commodities or project stages.
Can you outline Purepoint Uranium's objectives over the next year?
Despite challenging market conditions where equity markets have yet to reflect elevated commodity prices, we’ve proactively prepared all our projects to be drill-ready. Completing extensive groundwork ensures a readily available pipeline of projects for drilling. The recent resurgence in uranium prices has attracted substantial investment into the uranium space and with secured financing, our objective is to continue drilling throughout the year, increasing our likelihood of a discovery.