Junior explorer Cosmos Exploration (ASX:C1X) is expanding its Canadian horizons into Nunavut with an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Fenix Uranium Project.
The company, which has existing projects in Québec, has struck a conditional cash and scrip agreement to earn an 80% interest in the 162.7km2 project, located in the Thelon Basin, Nunavut.
Cosmos says the Thelon Basin is the next “emerging high-grade uranium mining district with striking similarities to the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan”.
The region is host to unconformity uranium deposits, which can be large and sometimes very high grade. Cosmos says the average grade of these types of deposits is around 1%, equating to 20 pounds per tonne.
Executive Chairman Jeremy Robinson says Cosmos has been on the hunt for an attractive uranium opportunity for some time.
“The presence of high-grade boulders and historic intercepts indicates that there is likely a deposit nearby,” he says.
Cosmos pointed to successes in the region by Forum Energy Metals Corp (TSX-V:FMC), which reported a discovery intersection including grades of up to 13.8% at its Aberdeen Uranium Project in the Thelon Basin, and Atha Energy’s 43-million-pound Angilak deposit, where a 10,000m expansion drilling program is soon to start.
To acquire the option to earn into the Fenix Project, Cosmos will pay C$50,000 ($54,993) and issue 2.2 million shares worth around C$100,000.
To earn its 80% stake, the company then has to spend C$1 million on exploration at Fenix within three years, pay a further $100,000 in cash and issue another $100,000 worth of shares.
To fund the acquisition, Cosmos is undertaking a $1.01 million placement at $0.004 per share, for which it says it has already received firm commitments.
While not much drilling has been done on the Fenix Project, according to Cosmos, previous drilling has returned an intercept of 3.9m @ 0.2% uranium, including 0.4m at 0.7% uranium.
“Cosmos looks forward to progressing this project with all its stakeholders this field season just approaching in what is a resurgent uranium market,” Robinson says.
Since mid-2023, uranium has surged from around US$55 ($82) per pound to over US$106 ($159) per pound at the start of 2024, marking an over 90% gain. It has since come back to around US$91, which is still a 65% advance on July last year.
Earlier this year, investment bank Citi forecast prices will average US$110 per pound in 2025 due to underinvestment in supply since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
This has been further compounded by a recent ban on Russian uranium imports passed by the US in response to the country’s continued conflict with Ukraine.
The Fenix Project is located about 100km north of the Kiggavik deposit and 50km southwest of the 20-million-pound Amer Lake Uranium Deposit within the Amer Group belt.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Cosmos Exploration & Stock
