Interpreting Drill Data for Uranium Exploration

1) With #Uranium Explorers mobilizing for summer drilling in #Canada's #AthabascaBasin⛏️ it's time⏳ for a thread on how to interpret drill data🗒️ coming soon in news releases.📰 Misunderstanding data can lead to missed opportunities.💰😟 Maybe I can help U get ready!👨‍🏫🧵👇.../2 pic.twitter.com/u6b439Wonv

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

2) #Uranium explorers drill rock core samples looking for signs of #U3O8 bearing ore.🧐 Rarely do they hit high-grade on first few attempts.😟 Geologists first look for visual signs in the core samples. Here's a description from pre-discovery 2013 drilling at $NXE's Arrow👇.../3 pic.twitter.com/wh2sC4bqEG

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

3) Visual inspection of core samples is just 1 of many steps taken to see if #uranium is found. Presence of radioactivity is best indicator☢️ so all cores are scanned with an instrument called a Hand-held Scintillometer to produce "Scint" CPS tables for each core interval.🗒️.../4 pic.twitter.com/ukignMm97y

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

4) After an exploration hole has been drilled & core samples recovered, an instrument called a Downhole Gamma Probe is lowered to the bottom & recovered, constantly measuring #uranium radioactivity in a 360 degree sweep to produce a complete Gamma Log Profile for each hole.☢️../5 pic.twitter.com/VCDQqPVcrt

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

5) Here's the Gamma Log Profile for Fission #Uranium $FCU's PLS21-MET-004 drill hole that intersected 34 metres of high-grade ore at average grade of 19.12% including 26m@24.59% #U3O8☢️🎇😲 This was the best mineralized hole drilled worldwide for any mined metal in 2022.🥇🥳.../6 pic.twitter.com/4X068FX4Ak

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

6) Boxes of #uranium cores are then shipped off to a lab where they are assayed👩‍🔬 to determine exact % Grade #U3O8 (& other minerals like #Gold) in 1/2 metre intervals.🔨 Tables are then published for each drill hole.📑 It can take a few months for assays to be completed.😟 .../7 pic.twitter.com/RWLb77dc9B

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

7) Other data provided may include Maps & overlays of surface and airborne survey data🗺️ or perhaps most valuable are Cross Section Views that show angles of drill holes along a survey line & geologic interpretation around the #uranium bearing ore, used to build 3D models.🧩.../8 pic.twitter.com/2mblHwp4w5

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

8) If you want to explore & browse these types of #Uranium exploration data, best bet is to visit the Fission #Uranium website, as they are the only explorer/developer that publishes full data publicly for every hole they've ever drilled.📑 Fantastic research resource!📚🧐 .../9 pic.twitter.com/dLZ15gHmOT

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

9) To get ahead of the herd🦬 you can use the Scint & Assay tables from hundreds of #Uranium drill holes published by Fission to learn how to estimate #U3O8 % Grades from initial Scint data in news releases🧮 well before actual Assays are released.🤠.../10 https://t.co/EB1E0UsIDR pic.twitter.com/EyI6PRfnYZ

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023

10) Sometimes #Uranium explorers will use a specially calibrated Downhole Gamma Probe to measure & quickly report Estimated % #U3O8 grades found in a drill hole.🗒️ Gamma readings are directly converted to "Grade % eU3O8". Often done if there are problems recovering cores.⛏️.../11 pic.twitter.com/fbcXOuHHGR

— John Quakes (@quakes99) June 11, 2023