Areva-Waseco joint venture for Quebec properties

Areva has completed its C$2 million ($1.9 million) earn-in expenditures and plans to proceed to establish a joint venture with Canada's Waseco Resources relating to the further exploration and development of Waseco's properties in the Quebec Labrador Trough.

Areva has completed its C$2 million ($1.9 million) earn-in expenditures and plans to proceed to establish a joint venture with Canada's Waseco Resources relating to the further exploration and development of Waseco's properties in the Quebec Labrador Trough. 

Waseco had originally entered into an earn-in agreement in 2006 with South African uranium exploration company UraMin. Under which UraMin would have the right to earn a 50% interest in the uranium related prospects by funding C$1.6 million ($1.5 million) in exploration and paying C$300,000 ($291,200) in aggregate. However, UraMin was acquired by Areva in 2007.

Exploration activities at a Waseco property in the Quebec Labrador Trough (Image: Areva)

Waseco has five properties in the Quebec Labrador Trough covering uranium occurrences comprising 770 claims. These properties cover a total area of some of 330 square kilometres.

In June 2008, following Areva's takeover of UraMin, Waseco extended the option period to 29 June 2010 and increased the magnitude of the exploration expenditures to $2 million by which Areva could earn a 50% interest in uranium and related minerals found at Waseco's Quebec Labrador Trough project.

Waseco and Areva have been exploring four separate claim blocks comprised of the Du Portage Property (Blocks I and II), Lac Drumlin (Block III), Lac Fenster (Block IV) and Lac Pons (Block V).

Since 2008, Areva has invested over C$2 million in exploration on the properties, which included extensive airborne geophysics and two years of field work, including an initial regional drill program in 2009, which focussed on the Du Portage Project.

Richard Williams, president of Waseco, commented: "Areva has been actively exploring in Quebec Labrador Trough for over 40 years and has developed an in-depth knowledge of the region and its geology. They have brought expertise to the project that we, as a junior, would have difficulty attracting and maintaining."

Researched and written 

by World Nuclear News