CanAlaska Acquires High-Grade Nickel Deposit in Thompson Nickel Belt, Manitoba Mel Deposit Contains Historical Indicated Resource Estimate of 82.5 Million Pounds Nickel at 0.875% Grade Property Located Within 25 Kilometres of Vale's Thompson Mine and Mill Complex
CanAlaska Acquires High-Grade Nickel
Deposit in Thompson Nickel Belt, Manitoba
Mel Deposit Contains Historical Indicated Resource Estimate of 82.5 Million Pounds Nickel at
0.875% Grade
Property Located Within 25 Kilometres of Vale's Thompson Mine and Mill Complex
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 6, 2023) -
CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV:
CVV) (OTCQX: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N)
("CanAlaska or the "Company") is pleased to announce that B.
Riley Farber Inc., in its capacity as Trustee in Bankruptcy of the property, assets and undertakings of
Victory Nickel Inc, has accepted CanAlaska's offer to acquire the Mel Nickel Deposit and surrounding
mineral claims. The acquisition provides the Company with 100% ownership of the mineral lease that
hosts the Mel Deposit, as well as ten mineral claims covering a total of 2,613 hectares in the Thompson
Nickel Belt in Manitoba (Figure 1). The Mel project claims are contiguous with the Company's 100%
owned Hunter and Strong projects.
CanAlaska CEO, Cory Belyk, comments,
"For CanAlaska, the acquisition of the high-grade Mel nickel
deposit and its surrounding exploration claims in the north Thompson Nickel Belt region compliments
the Company's existing nickel assets perfectly. It provides the Company with a 100%-owned and large
nickel resource in the 5
th
largest sulphide nickel belt in the world near Vale's Thompson operation.
This acquisition further positions CanAlaska's district-scale nickel assets, now over 40,000 hectares
total, as a front-runner among global nickel exploration portfolio's that will allow the Company to attract
outside investment in a strengthening nickel market. New sources of nickel supply are scarce and
demand is quickly growing as the world continues to electrify toward a carbon-free energy future."
Figure 1 – Mel Project Location
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STRUCTURE OF THE DEAL
CanAlaska will acquire 100% of the Mel Deposit lease and surrounding claims by paying CDN$300,000
and issuing 2,000,000 common shares of CanAlaska, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
The
shares will be subject to a statutory 4 month and a day hold period from the closing date (the "
Hold
Period
") under applicable securities laws.
In addition, the parties have agreed to voluntary resale
restrictions thereafter with 25% (500,000) of the shares released from resale restrictions after the expiry
of the Hold Period and the balance being released in three tranches of 500,000 on each of the dates that
is 2, 4 and 6 months after the expiry date of the Hold Period.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Trustee
will have the right to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of all (but not less than all) of the shares in a block
trade at any time in its sole discretion after the expiry date of the Hold Period.
CanAlaska has paid 15%
of the consideration to the Trustee upon their acceptance of the offer.
The balance of the purchase price
will be paid and the acquisition completed upon execution of a definitive agreement and receipt of TSX
Venture Exchange approval.
About the Mel Deposit and Project
The 100%-owned Mel property is located within 25 kilometres of Vale Canada Limited's processing
facilities in Thompson, Manitoba. The property consists of 10 claims and one mineral lease for a total of
2,613 hectares. The mineral lease contains the Mel deposit, which has a historical indicated resource
estimate of 4.3 million tonnes at 0.875% nickel for 82.5 million pounds of contained nickel and an
inferred resource estimate of 1.0 million tonnes at 0.839% nickel for 18.7 million pounds of contained
nickel (Table 1). The Company believes the Mel property is underexplored, with previous focus being
mostly on the immediate Mel lease and deposit.
Table 1 - Historical Resource Estimate For Mel Deposit
Category
Tonnes
% Nickel
Contained Nickel (lbs)
Indicated
4,279,000
0.875
82,520,515
Inferred
1,010,000
0.839
18,676,476
Notes:
-
See "Technical Report on the Mel Deposit, Northern Manitoba" prepared for Victory Nickel Inc. by Shahé Naccashian (P.Geo.) of Wardrop Engineering
Inc. dated March 9, 2007
-
Historical resource estimate calculated using a 0.5% nickel cut-off.
The Mel deposit was discovered by Inco in 1961 and was subsequently explored between 1961 and
1971. Between 1999 and 2004, Inco completed subsequent drill programs on the Mel project. Victory
Nickel acquired the property in 2007 and completed a resource estimate (Table 1) based on 296
drillholes, 126 of which define the deposit. Subsequent work on the property and mineral lease by
Victory Nickel included additional drilling in 2007 and 2011, and baseline environmental studies in 2012.
The Mel deposit strikes ~345˚ for a distance of 1,500 m, dips 70˚ - 80˚ east, and extends 46 - 183
metres from surface to a depth of 825 metres (Figure 2). The mineralization is characterized by nickel-
bearing massive and stringer sulfides within and in contact with ultramafic intrusions. The sulfides are
dominantly pyrrhotite with lesser amounts of pentlandite and chalcopyrite. Folded, continuous to
discontinuous high-grade nickel-bearing sulfide layers up to 15 m thick (horizontal) are located within a
broader mineralized zone with a thickness exceeding 30 metres. Additional drilling in 2011, intersected
down-dip extensions of the deposit at depths of 165 to 350 metres, highlighted by 13.71 metres at
0.96% nickel, including 1.2 metres at 2.64% nickel in drill hole M-11-09.
The Mel property and deposit is subject to a Vale 10% net profits royalty. The Mel deposit contains a
milling agreement with Vale at cash cost plus 5%, provided that the product meets Vale's specifications,
and that Vale has sufficient mill capacity.
Figure 2 – Mel Deposit Mineralized Envelope From Historical Resource Estimate
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The Mel deposit contains a historical resource estimation completed in compliance with the CIM Mineral
Resource and Mineral Reserve definitions referred to in NI 43-101, Standards and Disclosure for
Mineral Projects, at the time of publication. It also involved the preparation of a Technical Report as
defined in NI 43-101, and in compliance with Form 43-101F1. The historical resource was presented in
the "
Technical Report on the Mel Deposit, Northern Manitoba"
prepared for Victory Nickel Inc. by
Shahé Naccashian (P.Geo.) of Wardrop Engineering Inc. dated March 9, 2007. The historical resource
was calculated using the interpolation methods of nearest neighbour, inverse distance squared, and
ordinary kriging. The methods were validated by comparison of global mean grades, visual review of
coded block grades, and swath plots. Ordinary kriging methodology was selected for grade estimation
on the deposit. The historical resource was completed in the local universal INCO grid (grid 11), that
measures in feet. A qualified person with the Company has not done sufficient work to classify the
historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The Company is not treating the
historic estimate as current mineral reserves or mineral resources.
About CanAlaska Uranium
CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQX: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) holds interests in
approximately 300,000 hectares (750,000 acres), in Canada's Athabasca Basin - the "Saudi Arabia of
Uranium."
CanAlaska's strategic holdings have attracted major international mining companies.
CanAlaska is currently working with Cameco and Denison at two of the Company's properties in the
Eastern Athabasca Basin. CanAlaska is a project generator positioned for discovery success in the
world's richest uranium district. The Company also holds properties prospective for nickel, copper, gold
and diamonds. For further information visit
www.canalaska.com
.
The qualified technical person for this news release is Nathan Bridge, MSc., P.Geo., CanAlaska's Vice
President, Exploration.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
"Cory Belyk"
Cory Belyk, P.Geo., FGC
CEO, Executive Vice President and Director
CanAlaska Uranium Ltd.
Contacts:
Cory Belyk, Executive VP and CEO
Tel: +1.604.688.3211 x 306
Email:
General Enquiry
Tel: +1.604.688.3211
Email:
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-looking information
All statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates
will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions made by the
Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes
are appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, these statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute
to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will prove inaccurate, certain of which are
beyond the Company's control.
Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Except as required by law, the Company
does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date hereof or revise them to reflect the occurrence of future
unanticipated events.
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