Purepoint Uranium (PTU) - Prepping Money and Winter Drill Programme

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. is a uranium exploration company focused on the development of its projects located in the Athabasca Basin of Canada. The Athabasca Basin is home to 10 of the world’s 15 highest grade uranium deposits and accounts for 15.5% of annual global uranium production. The company was established in the Athabasca Basin in 2002 and has an asset portfolio consisting of approximately 175,000 hectares of claims throughout the Athabasca Basin and its surroundings.

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. on the 30th of August 2022, announced that it had obtained a final receipt for the final Base Shelf Prospectus it filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. The creation of the Base Shelf Prospectus has enabled the company to access funds from retail investors which was previously an inaccessible source of funding.

The company in Mid-August published an update to its summer exploration programs which is aimed at advancing seven of its projects within its asset portfolio. The highlights of the summer exploration update include the company announcing that it is underway with a 3,777 line-km VTEM survey over its Tabbernor Block as well as that it had concluded with airborne Gravity Gradiometer as well as Gravity and Magnetic Surveys across the Russell South and Carson Lake projects for a total of 1,364 line-km. The company also conducted a 653 line-km ZTEM airborne survey at the Carter Corridor of its Hook Lake Joint Venture.

Management

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. is led by Chris Frostad, who serves as the President and CEO of the company. Frostad is a chartered accountant and has in the past served as director for various companies. He holds extensive experience in the development and building of early-stage, high-growth companies, with his previous experience including serving as CEO of a Toronto-based venture capital firm.

Scott Frostad is the Vice President (VP) of Exploration for the company and has been involved in the Canadian mining industry for more than 30 years. He has been involved in mineral exploration with companies such as Lac Minerals Ltd., Teck Resources Ltd. and Placer Dome Inc. and has also served as an Environmental Specialist with Cogema Resources Inc. Scott is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia as well as the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan.

Ram Ramachandran is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. Ramachandran previously served as the Deputy Director and Associate Chief Accountant of the Ontario Securities Commission.

Linda Tong is the company’s Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist. Tong has formed part of Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. since 2006 and has more than 20 years of GIS applications, development and computer programming experience.

Jeanny So is the final member of the company’s management team and is tasked with the company’s corporate communications. So has been involved in operations and investor management for more than 20 years. She has also executed various corporate communication programs for several private and publicly-listed companies.

Base Shelf Prospectus

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. on the 30th of August 2022, announced that it had obtained a final receipt for the final Base Shelf Prospectus it filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. The rationale behind the Base Shelf Prospectus is to enable a quicker and faster form of fundraising in the future. The Base Shelf Prospectus will allow the company to qualify the distribution of common shares, warrants, units and subscription receipts to retail and institutional investors for aggregate gross proceeds up to CAD$ 15 million during the 25 months that the Base Shelf Prospectus will remain in effect. Chris Frostad explains:

“We've actually been looking at this for a while. When the markets get active, particularly in the uranium space, as we've seen even in the last week, you want to be able to take advantage of that when you can. Part of the approach in the last year or so is to get as much work done as we can while the money's available and we want to make sure that money is coming in at the most appropriate price and timing. By getting that base shelf up there, it allows us over the next couple of years to raise money by leaning on it, and it removes the need for a form of hold, it removes the need to be an accredited investor and it allows brokers and dealers to help us raise money much more easily.”

The Securities Rules of Canada require that before any form of funds are raised, a company must create a prospectus. The nature of mining companies includes a company requiring various fund raises which, depending on the stage of a company and/or its asset, may coincide with a prospectus not being possible at the time of the required funds. The Securities Commission typically gives an exemption to this rule to junior mining companies. The exemption enables the company to raise funds without a prospectus on the condition that the funds may only be obtained from accredited investors who understand the risks involved. Frostad explains the process as follows:

“It's not a quick hit. The way it operates in Canada, under the Securities Rules, is that you cannot issue shares to the public unless you put together a prospectus. That's the overriding rule. Now, because in the resource industry we are raising money every hour and a half, that would become quite onerous, so we typically would operate under an exemption that allows us to issue shares, but only to an accredited investor who has ticked all the boxes of having the experience and financial knowledge to manage that risk, and it places a 4-month hold on that stock.”

The creation of the Base Shelf Prospectus has enabled the company to access funds from retail investors which were previously inaccessible. Frostad explains the significance of the Base Shelf Prospectus and the effect it will have on the company as follows:

“The base shelf is another mechanism up from that where if we were to raise money, we already have a prospectus sitting there, and we do it once and any private placements we do moving forward would reference that prospectus for the next little while. It just means that it can be sold directly to retail and it opens up the market and the flexibility we have.”

Projects

The asset portfolio of Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. consists of various projects in the western and eastern Athabasca Basin, including 100% owned projects as well as joint ventures. The company holds joint ventures at its Hook Lake as well as Smart Lake projects.

The company holds a 21% interest in the Hook Lake project with Cameco Corp. and Orano Corp. each holding 39.5%. interest. The project is located within the Paterson Uranium District and has been operated by Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. since 2007. The project holds a 28,598-hectare land position and consists of 9 claims, including the high-grade spit-fire discovery.

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. also holds a 27% interest in the Smart Lake project, which is also a joint venture with Cameco Corp. The property consists of two claims totalling a land position of 9,860 hectares.

The Turnor Lake project of the company is a 100%-owned project consisting of 4 claims totalling 9,705 hectares and is located on the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin. Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. has been able to define four district exploration areas at the project which include the Serin Conductor, the Laysan Zone, the Turnor Lake Zone and the Turaco Zone. The Serin Conductor lies within the La Rocque corridor, which hosts various high-grade uranium projects including Cameco Corp.’s La Rocque project which has shown mineralisation of up to 29.9% U3O8 over 7.0 m as well as IsoEnergy Ltd.’s Hurricane Zone which has shown mineralisation of up to 38.8

The Red Willow project of the company is also located on the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin and consists of 17 mineral claims over an area of 40,116 hectares. The company has previously conducted various geophysical surveys at the project, which enable the company to identify 21 conductive zones at the project.

The Tabbernor Block consists of four individual projects covering 66,000 hectares and is located just outside of the Athabasca Basin. The four projects forming the Tabbernor Block are the ColinEagle, MidBear, JebRaven and Millkey projects

The remaining projects in the company’s asset portfolio include the Russell South, Carson Lake, Henday Lake and Umfreville projects.

Summer Exploration Update

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. published an update to its summer exploration programs in Mid-August 2022. The summer exploration programs are aimed at advancing seven of the company’s projects within its asset portfolio.

The company earlier in the year concluded a 2,088 m drill program at the Red Willow project. The drill program consisted of 12 drill holes and was aimed at following up on previously encountered mineralisation including 0.12% U3O8over 4m as well as 0.47% U3O8over 1.5 m. The exploration initiatives were able to encounter radioactivity in 9 of the 12 holes drilled resulting in 1.2 km of radioactivity identified along the conductor target.

The company is currently underway with a 3,777 line-km VTEM survey over the Tabbernor Block. Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. was also able to conclude with airborne Gravity Gradiometer as well as Gravity and Magnetic Surveys across its Russell South and Carson Lake projects totalling 1,364 line-km. The company also conducted a 653 line-km ZTEM airborne survey at the Carter Corridor of its Hook Lake Joint Venture.

Future initiatives

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. plans to continue its exploration initiatives at its Red Willow project in the near future. The company plans to conduct follow-up exploration initiatives at the Osprey zone of the project, which will be aimed at expanding the prospective conductor.

The company also plans to conduct a fall drill program at the Turnor Lake project as well as obtain approval for the planned winter drilling program at the Hook Lake project. Frostad explains the process and expectation regarding the proposed winter exploration program as follows:

“We're proposing USD$ 1.9 million to USD$ 2 million for maybe a month and a half's worth of drilling in this coming winter, which we think is a reasonable amount to start testing. We're over in a new corridor now that we're testing. Again, they like to pace us and they like to do a little work and then really digest it well before we go out and gather more data, so we'll see how that moves along.” 

Frostad, regarding the future of the uranium industry, believes that various catalysts have occurred for the industry, including Switzerland lifting its moratorium on reactors and Germany announcing that it would operate its Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim nuclear power plants beyond December 2022, the date at which it aimed to decommission all of its nuclear power plants. The War in Ukraine also adds to the list of catalysts affecting the global uranium industry. The future of the industry according to Frostad will be volatile until such a point where the price of uranium will enable the opening of new uranium mines as well as increasing production of existing operations, which he estimates to be a USD$ 50 spot price, he states:

“I think it's going to be another year before we see the price of uranium get up to where it needs to be to really make an impact on the industry itself, forget the equities, in the uranium business. Between now and then, the markets are going to continuously try and anticipate a big move and jump in. It's pretty twitchy. It's going to be pretty volatile I think.”

To find out more, go to the Purepoint Uranium website