Foremost Clean Energy Ltd.'s stock gained ground on Monday, rising 9.2% after the company unveiled plans for a 5,000-metre diamond drill program at its Hatchet Lake Uranium Project, located in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin.
The program is scheduled to start in mid-February and is described by the company as a systematic follow-up to last year’s uranium discovery at Hatchet Lake. Foremost reported that hole TF-25-16 intersected 0.87% U3O8 over 0.45 metres within a broader 6.2-metre interval averaging 0.10% U3O8.
Foremost said the winter campaign will concentrate largely on the Tuning Fork target area, the site of the TF-25-16 discovery. Additional drilling is planned for the Beta Grid at Hatchet Lake South and the Richardson SE area at Hatchet Lake North. The company describes these areas as drill-ready and able to be tested during the upcoming program.
"This upcoming 5,000-metre drill program represents a significant next step at Hatchet Lake and is designed to systematically follow up on the TF-25-16 discovery," Foremost President and CEO Jason Barnard said. He noted that several drill-ready targets have been defined and that Denison Mines' historical drilling and geophysical work helped establish the technical framework for Hatchet Lake. Barnard added that the timing is favourable for a focused winter program, particularly with uranium prices recently reaching the US$100-per-pound level.
The Hatchet Lake Project comprises two claim blocks containing multiple targets considered ready for drilling. At Tuning Fork West, recent processing of historical data identified an untested electromagnetic conductor approximately 1.2 kilometres in length. Foremost highlighted this conductor as a priority for follow-up.
At the Beta Grid target area in Hatchet Lake South, the company reported a 20.3-metre offset in the depth to the Athabasca unconformity. Foremost interprets that offset as a potential thrust fault, a structural feature that the company considers relevant to its exploration model.
The Richardson SE target area at Hatchet Lake North contains more than 5 kilometres of untested electromagnetic conductor strike length located near the margin of the Athabasca Basin. Foremost describes that setting as highly prospective for uranium deposits and has included the area in the upcoming drill plan.
The planned 5,000-metre campaign, composed of diamond drilling across multiple targets, is intended to build on the technical framework and historical data that have been compiled for the property. The company has emphasized the role of prior work, including that of Denison Mines, in defining the locations and targets to be tested.
Foremost’s announcement and the drill program timeline were sufficient to move the company’s shares higher on Monday. The program’s focus on untested conductors and structural offsets frames the winter campaign as a targeted effort to expand on the TF-25-16 discovery and to evaluate additional prospective zones within the two Hatchet Lake claim blocks.