TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Gold- and uranium-focused junior Brades Resource Corp and explorer Fission Uranium on Thursday announced in a joint statement that the TSX had approved an option agreement that could see Brades acquire up to half of the Clearwater West project, in the uranium-rich Athabasca basin, in northern Saskatchewan.

As payment, Brades would issue to Fission 1.74-million shares on closing, and incur $5-million in exploration expenditures over a three-year period.

Fission's experienced and successful management and technical team, credited with two significant high-grade uranium discoveries in the Athabasca basin region in the past three years, namely the Waterbury Lake project and the Patterson Lake South (PLS) project, would continue to operate and manage Clearwater West. Fission currently holds a 100% interest in Clearwater West.

The $700 000 budgeted work programme for the first year would consist of a property-scale airborne radiometric survey using Fission's patent pending ‘system and method for aerial surveying or mapping of radioactive deposits’ and an airborne electromagnetic geophysical survey. It is expected that radon surveys, designed to assist in detecting subsurface uranium occurrences, would be conducted in certain areas to assist in prioritising drill targets.

"We are excited to be working with Fission to advance the Clearwater West project, which we believe is one of the most promising uranium properties adjacent to the high-grade, shallow-depth PLS discovery,” Brades director Harrison Cookenboo said.

The Athabasca basin region hosts the world's richest uranium deposits, with a well-established and politically stable uranium exploration and mining sector. Fission considered the recent discovery of high-grade uranium in the south-western region of the Athabasca basin as a demonstration of the possible prospective merit of this under-explored area.

Clearwater West lies next to the south of Fission's PLS joint venture property (Fission 50%, Alpha Minerals 50%), where recent drill results located 13 km to the north had discovered high-grade uranium in bedrock in five separate pods.

Fission in August approached JV partner Alpha with a takeover offer to consolidate the PLS project, offering 5.3 of its own shares for each Alpha share, representing a price of $7.26 per Alpha share. It also proposed that Alpha appoint two members to its board of directors.

The best drill hole intersection to date at the PLS discovery was 9.08% of uranium oxide over 54.5 m, including a higher-grade interval of 21.76% over 21.5 m.

The former Cluff Lake mine, which had produced more than 60-million pounds of yellowcake over 22 years, and the UEX-Areva Shea Creek deposits are also located along the western margin of the structural feature on which Clearwater West is located.