VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ValOre Metals Corp. (“ValOre”; TSX‐V: VO; OTCQB: KVLQF; Frankfurt: KEQ0) today provided an update on developments concerning Hatchet Uranium Corp. (“Hatchet”), in which ValOre currently holds an approximate 51.5% partially diluted ownership interest.
ValOre, further to its news releases dated November 4th, 2024, and February 5th, 2025, announces that closing has now occurred on the option agreement (the “Agreement”) with Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (“Skyharbour”), whereby Hatchet may acquire an 80% interest in Skyharbour’s 17,606 ha Highway Uranium Property (“Highway”) and a 100% interest, subject to a claw-back provision for Skyharbour, in Skyharbour’s Genie, Usam and CBX/Shoe Uranium Projects (the “Purchased Properties”) totalling 66,358 ha, all located to the northeast of the Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The Agreement on Highway provides Hatchet an opportunity to earn an 80% interest in the related claims over a three-year period by fulfilling combined cash, share issuance and exploration expenditure commitments of CAD $3.345 million.
Terms of Highway Property Agreement:
Highway, now consists of nine (9) mineral claims comprising approximately 17,606 hectares, due to the recent addition of five (5) mineral claims comprising 8,267 ha. Hatchet may acquire an 80% interest in Highway by (i) issuing common shares in the capital of Hatchet (“Shares”) having an aggregate value of CAD $1,050,000; (ii) making aggregate cash payments of CAD $245,000; and (iii) incurring an aggregate of CAD $2,050,000 in exploration expenditures on Highway over a three-year period, as follows:
Date
Cash Payments
Exploration Expenditures
Value of Shares Issued
On or before the first anniversary of Closing
$25,000
$250,000
$25,000(1)
On or before the second anniversary of Closing
$20,000
$300,000
$25,000(1)
On or before the third anniversary of Closing
$200,000
$1,500,000
$1,000,000(1)
TOTAL
$245,000
$2,050,000
$1,050,000
(1) Deemed pricing of Shares is based on the twenty (20) day volume weighted average price on the stock exchange in which Hatchet shall list its Shares for trading, being either the TSX Venture Exchange or the Canadian Securities Exchange (“Deemed Price”) or the last sale price, if not listed on a stock exchange at the time of issuance.
In the event that the issuance of any Shares pursuant to the above would result in Skyharbour holding 10% or more of the outstanding Shares of Hatchet, Hatchet will issue that number of Shares which would result in Skyharbour receiving 9.9% of the issued and outstanding Shares post-issuance and will pay cash in lieu of the Shares for the difference.
Skyharbour shall retain a 2% net smelter returns royalty from minerals mined and removed from Highway, of which Hatchet may purchase one-half, being 1%, at any time for $1,000,000.
Terms of the Purchased Properties:
The Purchased Properties consists of twenty-five (25) mineral claims comprising approximately 66,358 hectares across the Genie, Usam and CBX/Show projects. Hatchet acquired a 100% interest in the Purchased Properties by, on the date of closing (the “Closing Date”), paying Skyharbour $25,000 and issuing to Skyharbour such number of units in the capital of Hatchet (“Hatchet Units”) equal to 9.9% of the issued and outstanding Shares immediately following issuance. Each Hatchet Unit shall be comprised of one Share and one share purchase warrant, entitling Skyharbour to purchase one additional Share for a period of three years at a price that is a 25% premium to the deemed value of the Shares in both years 1 and 2, and then increases to a 50% premium to the issuance value of the Shares in year 3.
Skyharbour shall retain a claw-back provision whereby, within 90 days after the 3rd anniversary of the Closing Date, Skyharbour may elect by written notice to Hatchet of its intention to purchase back a twenty-five percent (25%) interest in the Purchased Properties by, within 90 days of delivery of such notice, incurring exploration expenditures or paying cash in lieu of to fund future exploration, equivalent to fifty percent (50%) of the total amount that Hatchet had spent during the term that is three years from the Closing Date in exploration expenditures on the Purchased Properties. If Hatchet has not incurred any exploration expenditures during the three years following the closing date, then Skyharbour shall automatically receive the 25% interest in the Purchased Properties.
Skyharbour shall also retain a 2% net smelter returns royalty from minerals mined and removed from the Purchased Properties, of which Hatchet may purchase one-half, being 1%, at any time for $2,000,000.
One of the conditions precedent for Hatchet prior to closing on both agreements was to close a financing for minimum gross proceeds of $1,500,000 which is now complete. Furthermore, Hatchet will proceed to list on the TSX Venture Exchange or the Canadian Securities Exchange or will have sold its interest to or combined with a similarly listed issuer. If this is not complete within 18 months, Hatchet’s right to acquire the Purchased Property will terminate. If after 12 months Hatchet has not listed then it shall pay Skyharbour a monthly fee of $10,000 until such conditions are satisfied or an aggregate of $60,000 has been paid, whichever occurs first.
Highway Property Summary:
The Highway Uranium Project consists of nice (9) claims covering 17,606 hectares, approximately 41 km south of the Rabbit Lake Mine and 11 km southwest of Uranium Energy Corp.’s (UEC, formerly UEX) West Bear U and Co-Ni Deposits. The Highway Project is located approximately 7 km east of the present-day margin of the Athabasca Basin but is believed to have been covered by Athabasca sandstone in the past. Highway 905 runs through the property, providing excellent access for exploration and in close proximity to regional infrastructure. There has been limited modern exploration performed on the project but there is the potential for high-grade basement-hosted-uranium mineralization.
The project is underlain by Wollaston Supergroup metasedimentary gneisses (pelitic to psammopelitic and psammitic to meta-arkosic) folded around and overlying an Archean felsic gneiss dome which outcrops in the southwestern portion of the property and cores a northeast trending antiformal fold nose.
The Genie property consists of five claims totalling 16,930 ha, and is located approximately 48 km northeast of Cameco’s Eagle Point Uranium Mine (Rabbit Lake Operation) and 40 km north of Wollaston Lake Post. The project is underlain by Wollaston Superground metasedimentary gneisses and Archean granitoids, with prospective pelitic to psammopelitic gneisses (including graphitic varieties) and several north-trending faults related to the Tabbernor fault system being mapped on the property. The project lies outside the current extent of the Athabasca Basin, but is believed to have been overlain by now-eroded Athabasca sandstones in the past and has the potential for high-grade basement-hosted uranium mineralization. The property is underlain by a series of linear magnetic highs (interpreted as granitoids) and magnetic lows (interpreted as metasedimentary gneisses), cross-cut by a highly magnetic northwest-trending Mackenzie Diabase dyke.
Previous work on the Genie project includes limited diamond drilling (three historical drill holes, of which one was abandoned in overburden) and a variety of airborne and ground geophysical surveys, prospecting, geological mapping, lake sediment and overburden sampling, and soil sampling. Most of this exploration work took place between 1966 to 1980, prior to the advent of modern geophysical methods and geological models, but in 2014 part of the Genie property was covered by a helicopter-borne DIGHEM magnetic, electromagnetic, and radiometric survey. The survey showed a strong central EM conductor following a magnetically inferred contact on the two northeastern most claims, which is locally disrupted by several moderately conductive N-S trending structural breaks, inferred to be faults. This strong conductor is highly prospective for uranium mineralization, and drilling done in 1969 and 1971 has confirmed the presence of graphitic and sulfide-containing pelitic gneisses on the property. Lake sediment samples also collected at Genie during the 2014 exploration program, contained up to 63.3 ppm U, further showcasing the prospectivity of the property.
The Usam Project consists of twelve claims totalling 40,041 ha and is located approximately 16 km northeast of Cameco’s Eagle Point Mine (Rabbit Lake Operation). The project has numerous EM conductors that are associated with significant magnetic lows of the Wollaston Domain. While the project is outside the current confines of the Athabasca Basin, the area was overlain by Athabasca sandstones historically. Basement rocks on the property include Wollaston Supergroup metasediments and Archean granitoid gneisses, with highly prospective pelitic to psammopelitic gneisses (including graphitic varieties) making up the largest proportion of the basement rocks. Several north-trending faults related to the Tabbernor fault system cross-cut the property.
Previous work on the project includes diamond drilling (12 holes), lake sediment sampling, soil sampling, geological mapping, ground and airborne geophysics, marine seismic, prospecting, and other geochemical sampling, the majority of which was done in the 1980’s and 1970’s. Modern exploration of the property has been limited to geophysics and ground prospecting. As such there is a significant untested potential on the project. Trenching on Cleveland Island uncovered up to 0.31% U3O8 in mineralized pegmatite, and diamond drilling on Gilles Island intersected anomalous uranium, indicating that the basement rocks underling the Usam property are fertile sources of uranium in addition to containing pegmatite- and granite-hosted U-Th-REE mineralization. There are also several sedimentary-hosted base metals (i.e. Cu and Zn) showings on the project and in the surrounding area, which show similarities to the sedimentary-hosted Cu mineralization previously discovered by Rio Tinto and its partners at the Janice Lake Project further southwest in the Wollaston Domain.
Picture3
Figure 3 – Usam Property Location Map
CBX/Shoe Property Summary:
The CBX property has been recently expanded through staking to include five additional claims adjoining the previously staked CBX and Shoe properties, which have been combined to include a total of seven claims covering 8,777 hectares. The 609 ha Shoe property has remained unchanged, with both CBX and Shoe now consisting of eight non-contiguous claims totalling 9,386 hectares.
The new claims lie approximately 6.5 km to 25 km northeast of the Eagle Point uranium mine and cover the northern shore of Wollaston Lake including parts of Cunning Bay. Outcrop exposure on the property is poor, but historical mapping and drilling shows that the newly expanded CBX project is underlain by a mixture of Wollaston Supergroup metasedimentary gneisses, Hudsonian intrusives, and Archean felsic gneisses of the Western Wollaston Domain. Similar lithologies host uranium mineralization at the Rabbit Lake operation, including the Eagle Point deposit, and other uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin and surrounding regions. The CBX and Shoe properties have had historical exploration, including airborne and ground geophysical surveys, lake sediment, soil, and spruce geochemical surveys, till sampling, prospecting, geological mapping, and a marine seismic survey, but the majority of this work took place in the 1960’s to 1980’s, with limited modern exploration work being carried out on a small portion of the CBX and Shoe properties.
Picture4
Figure 4: CBX/Shoe Property Location Map
About Hatchet Uranium Corp. Hatchet Uranium Corp. was incorporated by ValOre on February 7, 2024 and now holds a commanding land position, comprising 97,674 hectares, in the Eastern Athabasca Region of Saskatchewan.
About Skyharbour Resources Ltd.
To find out more about Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SYH) visit Skyharbour’s website at www.skyharbourltd.com.
Qualified Person (“QP”)
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Thiago Diniz, P.Geo., ValOre’s QP and Vice President of Exploration.
About ValOre Metals Corp.
ValOre Metals Corp. (TSX‐V: VO) is a Canadian company with a team aiming to deploy capital and knowledge on projects which benefit from substantial prior investment by previous owners, existence of high-value mineralization on a large scale, and the possibility of adding tangible value through exploration and innovation.
ValOre’s Pedra Branca Platinum Group Elements Project comprises 45 exploration licenses covering a total area of 51,096 hectares (126,260 acres) in northeastern Brazil. At Pedra Branca, 7 distinct PGE+Au deposit areas host, in aggregate, a 2022 NI 43-101 inferred resource of 2.198 Moz 2PGE+Au contained in 63.6 Mt grading 1.08 g/t 2PGE+Au. ValOre’s team believes the Pedra Branca project has significant exploration discovery and resource expansion potential. (CLICK HERE to download 2022 technical report* and CLICK HERE for news release dated March 24, 2022).
*The 2022 Technical Report entitled “Independent Technical Report –Mineral Resource Update on the Pedra Branca PGE Project, Ceará State, Brazil” was prepared as a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on behalf of ValOre Metals Corp. with an effective date of March 08, 2022. The 2022 Technical Report by independent qualified persons, Fábio Valério (P.Geo.) and Porfirio Cabaleiro (P.Eng.), of GE21, commissioned to complete the mineral resource estimate while Chris Kaye of Mine and Quarry Engineering Services Inc. (MQes), was commissioned to review the metallurgical information. The Mineral Resource estimates were prepared in accordance with the CIM Standards, and the CIM Guidelines, using geostatistical, plus economic and mining parameters appropriate to the deposit. Mineral Resources, which are not mineral reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability, and may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, and other relevant issues. Mineral Resources are based upon a cut-off grade of 0.4 g/t PGE+Au, correlated to Pd_eq grade of 0.35 g/t, and were limited by an economic pit built in Geovia Whittle 4.3 software and following the geometric and economic parameters as disclosed in the 2022 NI 43-101 Technical Report.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, “Jim Paterson” James R. Paterson, Chairman and CEO
ValOre Metals Corp.
For further information about ValOre Metals Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at www.valoremetals.com or contact Investor Relations at 604.646.4527, or by email at contact@valoremetals.com.
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