projects > papaskwasati uranium
Pacific Bay Minerals, Ltd. controls 771 mineral claims, covering a total area of 413 square kilometres (159 square miles) over the bulk of the Papaskwasati Formation in the Mistassini Basin of Quebec's Otish Mountains region. Pacific Bay controls a dominant land position in this major uranium exploration area adjacent to the Otish Basin. Our claims cover areas of surface uranium showings and historic radioactive drill hole intersections.
Like the Athabasca Basin and the nearby Otish Basin, the Papaskwasati (Pépeshquasati) Formation is predominantly a sandstone/conglomerate sequence of Proterozoic age. These claims host historical uranium showings, both at surface and in drill holes put down during the earlier uranium exploration cycles beginning in the late 1950's.
PacBay geologists have drawn their attention to the 300 to 500-metre thick section of sandstones and conglomerates of the Papaskwasati Formation, which resemble clastic sediments of its western Otish Basin counterpart — both lithologically and structurally. Like the Otish, the Papaskwasati is highly prospective for Athabasca Basin-type and Otish-type high-grade uranium deposits. Drill logs in historical assessment documents reported anomalous radiation in 3 holes drilled in 1969 in sandstones and conglomerates in the south-central portion of the Papaskwasati Basin. When plotted together with two of the surface uranium showings in the basin sandstones, they line up in a NW direction -- following the projection of the Takwa Greenstone Belt in the Archaean basement beneath the Papaskwasati Formation sediments. Pacific Bay has staked the basin where the favourable sedimentary sequence is thickest.
PacBay completed an airborne electromagnetic, magnetic and radiometric survey in August 2007 and received encouraging results finding significant elevated radiation in the northern and eastern portions of the Papaskwasati property. PacBay will follow up on these results with detailed ground magnetic-VLF/EM and radiometric surveys along with outcrop and glacial/boulder mapping in the summer of 2008. Drilling will follow as opportunities arise.
