Explorer Expands Massive Uranium Portfolio in Athabasca Basin

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Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (SYH:TSX.V; SYHBF:OTCQX; SC1P:FSE) announced it has staked 40 new prospective uranium exploration claims across eight projects in northern Saskatchewan, increasing its total ownership interest to more than 614,000 hectares (ha) across 36 projects.

The 100%-owned claims add nearly 63,000 ha to the company's holdings in and around the Athabasca Basin, "which is host to the highest-grade uranium deposits in the world and is consistently ranked as a top mining jurisdiction by the Fraser Institute," the company noted.

In addition to being a high-grade uranium exploration company, Skyharbour utilizes a prospect generator strategy by bringing in partner companies to advance its secondary assets.

"As the company remains focused on its co-flagship Russell Lake and Moore projects, these new claims will become a part of Skyharbour's prospect generator business as the company will seek strategic partners to advance these assets," Skyharbour said in a release on Tuesday.

The company has 10 partner companies advancing 11 projects in their portfolio, with project considerations totaling over $90 million, assuming that these partner companies complete their full earn-ins at their respective projects.

Analyst Sid Rajeev of Fundamental Research Corp. wrote recently before the announcement of the new claims that Skyharbour already owned "one of the largest portfolios among uranium juniors in the Athabasca Basin."

"Given the highly vulnerable uranium supply chain, we anticipate continued consolidation within the sector," he wrote, confirming the firm's Buy rating and adjusting its fair value estimate from CA$1.16 to CA$1.21 per share. "Additionally, the rapidly growing demand for energy from the AI industry is likely to accelerate the adoption of nuclear power, which should, in turn, spotlight uranium juniors in the coming months."

Details of Claims

According to the release, the list of new claims includes 11 contiguous claims totaling 14,890 ha at the Fost Project, three claims totaling 2,992 ha at the Horton Project, two claims totaling 5,345 ha at the Lynx Project, 16 new claims totaling 29,712 ha at the Snowbird Project, three claims totaling 3,890 ha at the Pendleton Project, three claims totaling 2,419 ha at the Spence Project, one claim totaling 5,987 ha at the Orr Project, and one claim totaling 4,838 ha at the Otter Project.

Skyharbour said the Foster property is drill-ready and now consists of 26 claims totaling 21,252 ha about 20 kilometers east of Cameco's Key Lake operation and adjoining the southwestern end of Skyharbour's Falcon Project, currently optioned out to North Shore Uranium Ltd.

"The Foster claims are situated in the Wollaston Domain just outside of the currently mapped extent of the Athabasca Basin, with several small outliers of sandstone located regionally in the area," the company noted.

Skyharbour acquired the Foster claims through staking and the acquisition of claims from Eagle Plains, which will retain a 2% net smelter return (NSR) royalty.

The Horton project is located about 34 kilometers south of Cameco’s Rabbit Lake Operation, and 40 kilometers southwest of the community of Wollaston Lake. The entire property is prospective for basement-hosted unconformity-related uranium deposits as well as pegmatite-hosted U-Th-REE (uranium-thorium-rare earth element) mineralization, the company said.

The Lynx property is about 54 kilometers south of Cameco's Rabbit Lake Operation, the company said. It is located within 10 kilometers of the edge of the Athabasca Basin within the Wollaston Domain and is "underlain by the highly prospective Wollaston Supergroup metasedimentary rocks, including psammitic to psammopeltic, pelitic, and graphitic pelitic gneisses."

Skyharbour said the Snowbird project is located about 35 kilometers south of Cameco's Centennial Deposit along the Virgin River Shear Zone. "The claims are underlain by basement rocks of the Taltson and Mudjatik Domains, including Virgin Schist Group and Careen Lake Group metasedimentary gneisses, catalastites, and mylonites," the company noted.

The Orr project is in the northern Athabasca Basin about 46 kilometers southeast of Black Lake and is underlain by about 160 to 320 meters of Athabasca Supergroup sandstones and conglomerates overlying Mudjatik Domain metasedimentary and granitoid gneisses. "A series of discontinuous east-to-north-east trending EM (electromagnetic) conductors have been identified on the property, which are locally cross-cut by several NNW-trending regional faults," Skyharbour said.

The Otter Project is in the northern Athabasca Basin about 41 kilometers southeast of Black Lake, the Pendleton Project is about 70 kilometers southeast of Cameco's Key Lake Operation, and the Spence project is about 75 to 85 kilometers south of Cameco's Rabbit Lake.

The Catalyst: Power-Hungry AI

The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles (EVs) during the energy transition is contributing to new attitudes toward nuclear energy and uranium.

"We remain really excited about uranium, not just (in 2025), but really over the next several years. In terms of commodity stories, it's where we're placing our own bets," Ben Finegold of Ocean Wall told Investing News Network's Charlotte McLeod on January 6.

While the market has cooled off since the beginning of 2024, Finegold said he sees the term price ending 2025 in the US$95 to US$100 per pound range. In terms of the spot price, it should rise "well over US$100," he told McLeod.

"Finegold acknowledged that the past year has been tough for some investors, but emphasized that the uranium narrative is 'very, very unique,'" McLeod wrote. "A key reason for that is the lack of available supply-side response as demand grows."

In an indicator of nuclear power's resurgence, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT:NASDAQ) last year announced a deal with Constellation Energy Group (CEG:NYSE) to restart and buy all of the power from one of the shut-down reactors at its infamous Three Mile Island plant.

AI requires "bucket loads of power," wrote Dominic Frisby for his newsletter, The Flying Frisby, in October.

"That's why Microsoft recently agreed to pay Constellation Energy, the new owner of America's infamous nuclear power station, Three Mile Island, a sizeable premium for its energy. There is cheaper wind and solar power to be had in Pennsylvania, but it isn't as reliable as nuclear 24 hours a day. It's not just AI. The widespread political desire to rid ourselves of fossil fuels means the world needs electricity, and fast."

Ownership and Share Structure

Management, insiders, and close business associates own approximately 5% of Skyharbour.

According to Reuters, President and CEO Jordan Trimble owns 1.47%, and Director David Cates owns 0.65%. Institutional, corporate, and strategic investors own approximately 55% of the company.

Denison Mines owns 6.3%, Rio Tinto owns 2%, Extract Advisors LLC owns 9.87%, Alps Advisors Inc. owns 9.65%, Mirae Asset Global Investments (U.S.A) L.L.C. owns 6.25%, and Incrementum AG owns 1.05%, Reuters reported.

There are 204.46 million shares outstanding with 199.74 million free float traded shares, while the company has a market cap of CA$78.58 million and trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.31 and CA$0.60.