We all know uranium is used
to fuel nuclear power plants
and reactors, which are
crucial sources of energy.
With energy consumption
increasing and new nucle-
ar power plants being built
worldwide, the demand for
uranium will only increase
in years to come. Canada-
based uranium exploration
and development company
Fission Energy Corp has
discovered significant high-
grade deposits at its Wa-
terbury Lake property and
in 2011, made a high-grade
boulder field discovery at
its Patterson Lake South
property. Both are located
in Saskatchewan’s Atha-
basca Basin: home of the
richest uranium deposits in
the world. Fission Energy
has properties in Saskatch-
ewan, Quebec, and Peru.
Spun out of Strathmore
Minerals, which had near-
term production assets in
the United States, a number
of Fission Energy’s proper-
ties were already staked. In
particular, Fission Energy
acquired Strathmore’s as-
sets in the Athabasca Basin
in Saskatchewan, a world
premiere district for ura-
nium where exceptionally
high-grade deposits can be
found.
“It’s unlike anywhere else
on earth,” says Ross McEl-
roy, CEO and President of
Fission Energy. “The depos-
its in the Athabasca Basin
are better quality resources
and are higher grade.”
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Twenty percent of the
world’s uranium and 100
percent of Canada’s supply
derives from this region.
With nine properties in the
Athabasca Basin and over
200 000 hectares staked
to date, Fission Energy is
positioned as a potential
leading force in the ura-
nium exploration industry.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS AND THE GROWTH OF NUCLEAR ENERGYThere are approximately
440 nuclear power plants
in the world. This number,
says McElroy, could in-
crease dramatically in the
coming decades. European
and North American coun-
tries have traditionally re-
lied a great deal on nuclear
power; France runs around
80 percent of its energy re-
quirements from nuclear
generators and the United
States has 25 percent of
the world’s nuclear power
plants. However, McEl-
roy says the real growth in
Ross, Dev and Bob
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the industry is coming out
of Asia. “China and Ko-
rea are emerging countries
and their demands on the
energy sector are huge be-
cause their populations are
booming and their growing
economies are vast. With
the growing economy, you
have higher energy require-
ments,” explains McElroy.
There are currently 13 nu-
clear power plants operat-
ing in China and 26 under
construction. McElroy says
China also has plans to con-
struct over 100 more plants
in the near future.
“That’s a huge addition to
the overall grid,” he says.
As an exploration company,
Fission Energy is constant-
ly searching for resources to
feed into this future market,
10 to 15 years down the line.
The average project from
discovery to mining takes at
least 10 years.
This booming growth sector
in Asia is one of the reasons
Fission Energy has decided
to partner up with the Ko-
rean Utility Company. The
partnership is crucial and
e�ectively benefits both
sides. Korea is currently
bidding to build new nuclear
plants in regions such as the
Middle East and is winning
many new contracts.
“They need uranium for the
long term and this allows
them to provide support
over a long period of time.
It’s important for a junior
company to have some se-
curity out in the future so
that their projects will be
supported,” says McElroy.
THE PROJECTSOf all their projects, McEl-
roy says Waterbury Lake in
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the Athabasca Basin is the
number one priority.
“It’s right in the heart of the
uranium mining district,”
he says.
The company made a high-
grade discovery in the re-
gion in 2010 and is continu-
ing to grow the deposit.
Fission Energy is quite con-
fident Waterbury will con-
tinue to churn out great
results: the 40,256-hectare
property is currently being
drilled in an expanded 88
hole 32,630m drill program
with a 26 percent increase
in budget from what was
originally planned. Fission
Energy owns a 60 percent
share of Waterbury Lake,
while the Korea Waterbury
Uranium Limited Partner-
ship owns 40 percent. The
property also lies 30 me-
ters away from properties
Rio Tinto has purchased for
$654 million where a sig-
nificant discovery was made
four years ago. This merely
emphasizes the strategic
nature of Fission’s project.
Another important project
for Fission Energy is also lo-
cated in the Athabasca Ba-
sin: Patterson Lake South.
This past summer, the com-
pany discovered high-grade
uranium boulders. “We’re
continuing to follow up on
that and hopefully make a
discovery at the source of
the boulders,” says McElroy.
Over in eastern Canada,
Fission Energy has secured
deposits at Dieter Lake in
Quebec. Originally owned
by a German utility compa-
ny in the late 1970s, Fission
Energy acquired the lands
in 2002. The property has a
sizable inferred resource of
24.4 million pounds.
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Fission Energy works in the heart of the uranium
mining district.
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McElroy explains how his company is di�er-
ent from other uranium exploration com-
panies out there: “We’re successful with a
discovery. Most juniors are not.”
With the help of Bryson Drilling on the
Waterbury project, Mineral Services Group
for geological consulting, and various geo-
physics groups such as Patterson Geophys-
ics, Discovery Geophysics, and Living Sky
Geophysics, Fission Energy has been able
to acquire a solid understanding of the land
and how to maximize their use of it.
“Most juniors have not had success explor-
ing in that area, but we’ve had two major
successes in the last two years,” says McEl-
roy. Looking forward, McElroy wants the
company to continue growing deposits in
the next five years and sell assets as they
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become attractive to major mining com-
panies. While McElroy attributes some of
the success to “a certain level of good luck,”
he also says the company has a very tech-
nologically capable group to support their
endeavors. With advanced geotechnical
and geochemical groups and a solid part-
nership with the Korea Utility Company,
Fission Energy is just as successful as any
major company. Moreover, the company is
well-funded (a third of the market is strict-
ly in cash) and their geographically-varied
properties allows for lot of room for expan-
sion. By focusing on the Athabasca Basin, a
region where McElroy himself has spent a
large part of his last 25 year working career,
Fission Energy has wisely positioned itself
in an area where their expertise gives them
a competitive advantage.
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For more information www.fission-energy.com
As seen in March issue of JARKS BUSINESS CANADA magazine at www.jarks.ca
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