F3 Uranium Secures Funding for 2026 Full Year Drilling At Athabasca Basin Discovery

• F3 Uranium raised $20 million (including $15 million flow-through) to fund year-long drilling campaign focused primarily on Tetra Zone discovery
• Tetra Zone shows significantly more potential than JR Zone with 60 meters mineralization vs. 20 meters, located only 12 km from Arrow/Triple R deposits
• Recent drilling hit over 10,000 counts per second across 30+ meters with successful 15-meter step-out confirming plunge direction and continuity
• Geological model evolving from conductor-controlled to shear-zone-controlled mineralization with east-west strike and westward plunge orientation
• Company has $30 million cash, experienced discovery team, and systematic approach to building resource through methodical step-out drilling

F3 Uranium Corp. (TSXV: FUU) has completed a significant $20 million financing round to fund an expanded drilling campaign at its Athabasca Basin uranium projects, with primary focus shifting to the recently discovered Tetra Zone. In a detailed interview, CEO Dev Randhawa and Chief Geologist Sam Hartmann outlined the company's strategic pivot, geological understanding, and systematic approach to building what they believe could become a substantial uranium discovery in one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions.

Strategic Financing Through Market Cycle Positioning

The timing and structure of F3's latest financing reflects both market realities and strategic planning. Randhawa explained the decision to raise funds in the September-October window: 

"It's the best time of the year to raise money in September, October. That's when people are coming back from holidays. Utilities start to contract and that's when WNA has their [conference]."

The $20 million raise included $15 million in flow-through financing, a tax-advantaged structure common in Canadian junior resource companies that requires funds be spent on qualified exploration activities. The company plans to allocate approximately $3 million for fall 2025 drilling, with the remaining $12 million spread across three campaigns throughout 2026 winter through breakup, post-breakup into early summer, and summer into early fall.

With $30 million in the treasury, F3 has positioned itself with approximately one year of drilling funding without needing to return to capital markets. Randhawa emphasised the strategic importance of this cash position: 

"The thing is dilution... we have enough money for a year of drilling. And more importantly, I think it relaxes the concept of having to go back to the market because as soon as the market knows you need to raise money, they're underwriters, not overwriters."

The Tetra Zone: A Higher-Potential Target

The company's strategic shift toward Tetra represents a pragmatic reallocation of limited exploration capital based on comparative potential. While the JR Zone showed initial promise with peak grades of 4.5 meters at 50% uranium, further drilling has disappointed expectations despite favourable geological indicators.

"The JR zone it's a beautiful little pocket. It's got a peak of 4.5 meters of 50% uranium and it's along a very large conductor... We had U3O8 on the edges, but we haven't been able to find that blob of uranium. Doesn't mean it's not going to happen, but as most companies, we're limited with funds. And so, because the Tetra Zone is so much bigger, potentially significantly larger than JR, we take the money we have, we have to focus it on where we get the best bang for the money for our investors"

In contrast, Tetra Zone presents several compelling advantages that justify the strategic pivot:

• Scale and Location: Located just 12 kilometers from the Arrow and Triple R deposits (compared to JR's 25 kilometers), Tetra sits along what appears to be a productive geological trend. "You can draw a straight line," Randhawa noted, suggesting structural continuity with known major deposits.
• Mineralization Intensity: The discovery hole encountered 60 meters of mineralization three times the maximum found at JR Zone. This fundamental difference in scale provides greater potential for resource growth.
• High-Grade Indicators: Recent drilling returned over 10,000 counts per second on scintillometer readings across 30+ meters of mineralization, with a 2.3-meter interval exceeding 10,000 CPS that Hartmann estimates "will be well over a percent" grade when assays are returned.

Evolving Geological Model

Perhaps the most significant technical development has been the evolution of F3's geological model for Tetra Zone. Traditional Athabasca Basin uranium deposits are typically controlled by graphitic conductive fault structures that provide pathways for uranium-bearing fluids. However, Tetra appears to represent a different structural style. Hartmann explained the challenge:

"What we see at Tetra is that the host rock that's hosting the mineralization is, in terms of physical properties, not different enough from the rocks around it that you can easily identify it from geophysics." 

The conductivity contrast at Tetra is approximately 4:1 rather than the typical 10,000:1 seen in graphite-bearing structures, making traditional electromagnetic survey interpretation more complex.

The emerging model indicates mineralization is controlled primarily by shear zones rather than graphitic conductors. These shear zones contain micaceous minerals like muscovite that provide the structural preparation for uranium deposition but don't generate strong geophysical signatures.

This structural reorientation has proven critical for drill targeting. Initial drilling based on conductor modelling repeatedly intersected mineralization at unexpected depths, suggesting the system was "twisted" relative to geophysical interpretations. Current understanding indicates an east-west striking shear zone with steep dip and mineralization plunging westward becoming deeper to the west and shallowing toward the east.

Interview with Dev Randhawa, Chairman & CEO, and Sam Hartmann, VP Exploration of F3 Uranium Corp.

Systematic Step-Out Drilling Strategy

F3's approach to expanding the Tetra discovery reflects lessons learned from previous exploration campaigns, both successful and unsuccessful. The company is employing a methodical step-out strategy balancing the need to establish continuity with the desire to test for larger-scale potential.

The most recent drill hole represented a planned 25-meter step-out that deviation reduced to approximately 15 meters. "We were trying to do 25 but it altered and came back to 15, which is fine,". Importantly, this step-out successfully intersected mineralization, confirming continuity and plunge direction.

The company's systematic approach involves 25, 50, and 100-meter step-outs depending on results, with drilling perpendicular to structure to accurately test width and continuity. Randhawa emphasised the importance of measured expansion: 

"High-grade uranium is like a vein gold system. It's here, it's gone. Here, it's gone. So you have to be careful with the language."

This conservative strategy reflects painful industry lessons. Randhawa referenced Rio Tinto's acquisition of the Hathor project, which was believed to contain 60 million pounds but were only indicated resources requiring close-spaced drilling ultimately counted for economic evaluation. "You cannot start using these inferred. It costs so many companies billions to figure that out."

Technical Protocols Drive Data Quality and Investor Confidence

Hartmann provided detailed insight into F3's technical methodology, addressing questions about data quality and interpretation that often confuse investors unfamiliar with uranium exploration protocols.

The company uses handheld spectrometers that measure up to 65,000 counts per second (versus older devices capped at 10,000). Readings are taken over half-meter intervals that correspond directly to samples sent for laboratory assay, allowing direct correlation. 

"About 10,000 counts on the handheld is still considered high grade because that's very loosely about 1% grade." 

F3 also employs downhole gamma probing to address core recovery issues common in fractured, mineralised zones. This technique provides continuous radioactivity profiles of the entire borehole, capturing data from intervals where physical core recovery may be incomplete.

Quality assurance and quality control protocols follow standard industry practices, with systematic insertion of blanks, standards, and duplicates to monitor laboratory performance and ensure data integrity.

Market Context and Industry Dynamics

Despite positive exploration results, F3's share price has not responded as management anticipated. Randhawa attributed this partly to technical selling pressure from flow-through financings and partly to broader junior uranium sector weakness as some ETFs rebalance away from smaller-capitalization companies.

However, the fundamental uranium thesis remains compelling, driven by artificial intelligence, data center proliferation, and government recognition of nuclear power's strategic importance. 

"The Americans are waking up and realising that maybe China could win. If China wins the AI race, what's the implications economically? But in order for all these data centers to support whether it's crypto or it's EV or more importantly now AI, we need a ton of power."

Randhawa pointed to Cameco's partnership with Westinghouse and the U.S. government as validation of uranium's strategic importance, noting Cameco's stock jumped 30% in a single day "when's the last a multi-billion dollar company jumped up 30% one day?"

Discovery Experience Provides Technical Credibility

F3's exploration team brings proven discovery success in the Athabasca Basin. The core team discovered the Waterbury deposit (sold to Denison), played key roles in discovering Triple R (sold for approximately $1 billion to Paladin), and now leads F3's exploration efforts.

"We have 30 million in the bank and you got two very smart guys and two other young guys have joined us." 

This track record provides credibility to the team's confidence in Tetra's potential, even as they maintain appropriate scientific caution in public statements.

Looking to 2026, F3's drilling campaign will focus on systematically delineating the Tetra Zone discovery while testing for expansion potential. With drilling currently underway and results expected regularly throughout the year, the company aims to define a maiden resource that could support future development scenarios.

The geological model is stabilising around shear-zone-controlled mineralization with east-west orientation and westward plunge. Drill targeting is becoming more confident as structural understanding improves, potentially accelerating the pace of step-out drilling if results continue supporting continuity.

With adequate funding, an experienced team, and a discovery showing initial signs of scale, F3 Uranium has positioned itself to systematically test whether Tetra Zone can join the ranks of significant Athabasca Basin uranium deposits.

The Investment Thesis for F3 Uranium

• Proven Discovery Team: Management and technical team discovered Waterbury and contributed to Triple R discovery (sold for ~$1 billion), demonstrating track record in Athabasca Basin
• Strategic Location: Tetra Zone located only 12 km from Arrow/Triple R deposits along apparent structural trend, versus JR Zone's 25 km distance
• Superior Scale Indicators: Initial mineralization of 60 meters (3x larger than JR Zone's 20 meters) with high-grade scintillometer readings exceeding 10,000 CPS across 30+ meters
• Confirmed Continuity: Successful 15-meter step-out intersecting mineralization validates geological model and demonstrates system extent beyond discovery hole
• Adequate Funding: $30 million treasury provides approximately one year of systematic drilling without near-term dilution pressure
• Evolving Understanding: Geological model maturing from initial geophysical assumptions to structural confidence, enabling more effective targeting
• Methodical Approach: Conservative step-out strategy (25-50-100m) balances resource definition requirements with exploration upside testing
• Market Dislocation: Current share price weakness despite technical progress creates potential entry opportunity during tax-loss selling season
• Macro Tailwinds: AI-driven data center power demand, government recognition of nuclear's strategic importance, and supply constraints support uranium fundamentals
• Systematic Newsflow: Regular drilling results expected throughout 2026 providing multiple catalyst opportunities as resource definition progresses

Macro Thematic Analysis:

The uranium market is experiencing fundamental transformation driven by artificial intelligence's exponential power requirements. Major technology companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta are securing nuclear power capacity to support data center expansion, marking nuclear energy's transition from controversial legacy technology to strategic imperative. Government recognition of nuclear's role in economic competitiveness particularly against China's AI ambitions has elevated uranium from commodity to strategic resource. This paradigm shift was dramatically illustrated when Cameco's government partnership announcement drove a 30% single-day gain in a multi-billion-dollar company. "The Americans are waking up and realising that maybe China could win. If China wins the AI race, what's the implications economically?" Supply constraints persist as decades of underinvestment meet surging demand, creating favorable conditions for junior explorers with quality discoveries in premier jurisdictions like the Athabasca Basin.

TL;DR

F3 Uranium has raised $20 million to fund systematic drilling at its Tetra Zone discovery, which shows significantly greater potential than previous targets with 60 meters of mineralization located just 12 km from major deposits. Recent drilling confirmed continuity with high-grade indicators exceeding 10,000 CPS, while the geological model has evolved to focus on shear-zone-controlled mineralization with favorable east-west orientation. With $30 million in treasury and a proven discovery team, the company is methodically delineating what could become a substantial uranium resource amid strengthening sector fundamentals driven by AI power demands.

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