• Project Summary
  • Royalty Description
  • Recent Updates
  • Project History

The Russell Lake Project is an Early Exploration stage uranium project located in the southeastern rim of the Athabasca Basin near the Key Lake mine and mill. The Russell Lake Project totals 73,294 hectares, located between Cameco’s Key Lake and McArthur River Projects and adjoining Denison’s Wheeler River Project to the west and Skyharbour’s Moore Uranium Project to the east. The Russell Lake Project is 51% owned and operated by Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (“Skyharbour”) in joint venture with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. ("RTEC"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, who now owns the remaining 49%.

On October 23rd, 2024, Skyharbour announced it had completed the majority earn-in requirements to earn a 51% interest in the Russell Lake Project by initially paying a cash payment of CAD $508,200, issuing 3,584,014 common shares of the Company to Rio Tinto and incurring an aggregate $5,717,250 in exploration expenditures on the project over the 3-year term of the earn-in.

In a news release dated May 19, 2022, Skyharbour announced it had entered into an Option Agreement with RTEC to acquire up to 100% of the Russell Lake uranium project. Skyharbour has a second option to earn an additional 19% interest for a total of 70%, and a further possible option to obtain the remaining 30% interest in the Russell Lake uranium project for an undivided 100% ownership interest.

Unless otherwise indicated, the scientific and technical information herein regarding the Russell Lake Project has been derived from the technical report titled "Technical Report on the Russell Lake Property, Northern Saskatchewan, Canada" with an effective date of June 6, 2022 (the "Russell Lake Technical Report"), prepared for Skyharbour and Skyharbour's other public disclosures, copies of which are available under its profile on SEDAR.

The Company owns a 1.9766% NSR royalty (the "Russell Lake Royalty") on the Russell Lake and Russell Lake South Projects (collectively, the "Russell Lake Project").

The Russell Lake Royalty is a 1.9766% NSR payable pursuant to the interest that Rio Tinto or any of its subsidiaries, assignees or successors holds from time to time in the underlying property. The royalty does not apply to the entirety of the project, the Company believes that its royalty applies to 23 of the 26 claims that currently comprise the exploration project.

In a news release dated October 24th, 2024, Skyharbour announced the results from the 2024 winter and spring drilling programs. A total of 5,152 metres was drilled in 10 holes. The first phase of drilling consisted of a total of 3,094 metres in six holes, while the second phase of drilling consisted of 2,058 metres of drilling in four holes. The first phase of drilling focused on drill testing the newly identified Fork Target area related to and south-southwest of the Grayling Zone. The best intercept of uranium mineralization to date on the property was intersected in RSL24-02, which returned a 2.5-metre-wide intercept of 0.721% U3O8 at a relatively shallow depth of 338.1 metres, including 2.99% U3O8 over 0.5 metres at 339.6 metres, just above the unconformity in the sandstone. During the second phase of drilling at Russell Lake, three holes totaling 1,649 metres (holes RSL24-07 to -09) were drilled at the regional MZE target area, approximately 10 km northeast of the Fork target, identifying prospective faulted graphitic gneiss accompanied by anomalous sandstone and basement geochemistry.

In a news release dated October 23rd, 2024, Skyharbour announced commencement of a 4,000 – 5,000 metre fall/winter drilling program on the project.  

In a news release dated February 9, 2023, Skyharbour announced the signing of an exploration agreement with English River First Nation ("ERFN") for the Russell Lake and Moore Uranium Projects in respect of Skyharbour's exploration and evaluation activities within the traditional territory of ERFN.

Currently, no mineral resources are stated on the project and the project remains at an Early Exploration stage.

The Russell Lake Project has seen extensive exploration by numerous companies since 1969. The earliest exploration program in the area was undertaken by Calta Mines Ltd, but Saskatchewan Mining Development Corp. ("SMDC"), Eldorado Resources, Cameco, Uranerz Exploration and Mining, Areva (now Orano) and its subsidiaries, Asamera Oil Corp. Ltd., Denison, Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation ("PNC"), Northern Continental Resources ("NCR") and numerous others also worked the area over a 25-year period. This early work involved numerous airborne and ground geophysical surveys, ground geological, geochemical and prospecting surveys as well as overburden RC drilling and diamond drilling.

Prospective areas were identified by: (i) Denison at Kowalchuk Lake (Little Man Lake Zone); (ii) SMDC in 1981 at the Grayling Zone, with follow up by PNC and NCR; and (iii) PNC in the Christie Lake area. Exploration on the Russell Lake Project intensified after 2004, with extensive work completed by NCR and Roughrider Exploration (Hathor). Additional drilling was carried out in 2007 on the Grayling Zone (8 holes) and the South Russell area (14 holes), followed by an additional twenty-seven drill holes in 2008 testing geophysical targets in the Blue Steel, Christie Lake, Fox Lake Trail, Grayling Zone, Grayling East and Taylor Bay areas. Hathor acquired NCR in 2009. In 2012, Rio Tinto acquired Hathor, and proceeded to carry out surface biogeochemical and soil geochemical surveys; relogging and re-sampling of core; airborne VTEMMax; ground gravity, resistivity, and DCIP; and diamond drilling in the Kowalchuck, Grayling, Grayling West and Fox Lake Trail areas.

Uranium mineralization has been discovered in several areas on and/or immediately adjacent to the property, which remain prospective for additional uranium mineralization. Currently, no mineral resources are stated on the project and the project remains at an Early Exploration stage.

PreviousRoughrider NextSalamanca