VANCOUVER – Foremost Clean Energy Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMST, CSE: FAT) has announced plans to initiate a significant ground-based gravity survey this December. The exploration work will focus on the company's Hatchet Lake Uranium Property, situated within the prolific eastern Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan.
Targeting the Richardson Trend
The upcoming survey will concentrate on the southern extension of the Richardson Trend, a well-known basement structural corridor with a history of uranium mineralization. This specific area has seen limited drilling activity historically, presenting a key opportunity for new discovery. The survey will be executed by MWH Geo Survey, a geophysical contractor with over four decades of experience operating in the Athabasca Basin.
Jason Barnard, President and CEO of Foremost Clean Energy, emphasized the strategic importance of this step. "The Hatchet Lake gravity survey marks an important step in refining our geological model along the Richardson Trend," Barnard stated. "By integrating gravity, electromagnetic, magnetic and geochemical data, we are building a more complete picture of the subsurface architecture that controls uranium mineralization in this area."
Survey Specifications and Objectives
The technical program is designed to collect data from approximately 788 gravity stations. These stations will be spaced at 100-metre intervals along lines set 200 metres apart. The grid will cover priority structural corridors on the southeastern extension of the Richardson trend, extending beyond the margin of the Athabasca Basin.
The primary objectives of the gravity survey are to:
- Refine subsurface geological interpretations.
- Map contrasts in rock density beneath the surface.
- Identify potential zones of hydrothermal alteration that are often associated with uranium-bearing structures.
Barnard confirmed that the insights gained from this survey are expected to directly influence the company's planned winter 2026 drill program. The goal is to ensure that drilling is highly focused, data-driven, and precisely targeted at the most prospective structural locations.
Geological Significance of the Property
The Hatchet Lake Project encompasses a substantial portion of the Richardson Trend. This corridor is characterized by brittle-ductile sheared, graphitic basement conductors. When these structures are reactivated, they can act as pathways for hydrothermal fluids, creating the ideal conditions for forming basement-hosted and unconformity-related uranium deposits.
This geological setting is considered analogous to other major uranium systems along the eastern margin of the Athabasca Basin. Notable comparisons include the La Rocque Corridor, which hosts ISO Energy’s Hurricane Deposit and Cameco’s La Rocque Lake Uranium Zone.
Historical exploration along the Richardson Trend, conducted by Denison Mines Corp. (NYSE American: DNN, TSX: DML), has previously returned multiple uranium-bearing intervals and strong alteration. These past results indicate the presence of a fertile mineralizing system, underscoring the property's potential. The southeast extension of the trend alone contains more than 6 kilometres of under-tested conductor strike length.
