By Overview
Forum Energy Metals (TSXV: FMC, OTCQB: FDCFF) is an established uranium explorer searching for high-grade deposits in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, home to the most valuable uranium real estate in the world. The company is also pursuing exploration in Nunavut’s underexplored Thelon Basin, which may be the most prospective region for discovering new, high-grade uranium deposits outside Saskatchewan. With a strong local and regional presence, Forum took advantage of weak markets to broaden its commodity exposure by adding a diverse portfolio of energy metals exploration projects in the copper, cobalt and nickel space.
Company Highlights
Saskatchewan (Athabasca Basin) and Nunavut (Thelon Basin) Uranium Projects
Key Projects
Nunavut Uranium Project (Thelon Basin)
Nunavut Uranium: Forum’s claims in green on ground formerly held by Cameco with discoveries made at Tatiggaq, Qavvik and Ayra. Orano’s mining lease hosting the Kiggavik uranium deposit shown in orange
Previously explored by Cameco between 2005 and 2012, this prospective ground hosts two uranium discoveries made by geologist Dr. Rebecca Hunter, who was recently appointed VP, exploration. Cameco abandoned the claims due to the decade-long period of low uranium prices during the post-Fukushima period. Forum later acquired the claims, which surround Orano Canada’s 133-million-lb Kiggavik uranium deposit. Orano, formerly known as AREVA, completed six years of pre-development engineering, environmental and community engagement studies from 2008 to 2014, prior to placing the project on care and maintenance.
Dr. Rebecca Hunter spotting drill hole locations. As Forum’s VP Exploration, Hunter is managing the Nunavut uranium exploration project.
Cameco completed 36,000 meters of drilling in 135 drill holes. After reviewing Cameco’s data, Forum’s technical team determined the Tatiggaq deposit to be the primary exploration target. Tatiggaq is found within a large gravity anomaly that remains open along strike for 1.5 kilometers and at depth. Previous drilling by Cameco identified results as high as 2.69 percent uranium oxide over 7.9 meters, including 24.8 percent uranium oxide over 0.4 meters at a depth of approximately 200 meters.
Examining drill core in the field at the Nunavut camp, August 2023
Forum recently completed a baseline archaeological study, ground gravity surveys, identified a suitable location for an exploration camp, and began a community engagement dialogue with the Hamlet of Baker Lake. Forum’s maiden drill program was completed in August 2023. Drilling focused on expanding mineralization at the primary Tatiggaq discovery. Assays are pending.
Forum’s Summer 2023 maiden drilling focused on the primary Tatiggaq deposit.
Wollaston Uranium Project
The property is located within 10 kilometers of Cameco’s Rabbit Lake uranium mill and within 30 kilometers of Orano/Denison’s McClean Lake uranium mill. Following the completion of its successful winter 2022 drilling program, which discovered anomalous uranium in all four holes at the Gizmo target. Forum recently received results of an airborne electromagnetic (EM) and magnetic survey to augment structural interpretations and precisely locate the EM conductors. The following maps show these results and identify new target areas for diamond drilling.
New Gravity Trends and Future Target Areas
Energy Metals Projects
Janice Lake Copper (Forum 100 percent): Former partner Rio Tinto spent $14 million in exploration expenditures to earn a 51-percent interest in the project and as yet has not exercised its interest. Copper mineralization was significantly expanded at the Janice and Jansem targets, which are open along a northeast-southwest trend, and at depth. Approximately 20 copper occurrences remain untested. Forum is seeking a new partner for this project. Love Lake Nickel-Copper-PGM Project (Forum 100 percent): Strategically positioned near Forum’s Janice Lake copper project.Still Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project (Forum 100 percent): The 11,411-hectare property surrounds the historic Howard Lake Ni-Cu-Co deposit located 35 kilometers northwest of La Ronge Saskatchewan. Forum has completed a prospecting and geochemical sampling program and in Q3 2023, completed electromagnetic and magnetic surveys.Fisher Copper Claims (Forum 100 percent): The Fisher property is located 40 kilometers west of Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan. The property hosts a stratabound, volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit with a historical estimate of 650,000 tons grading 0.5 percent copper and 3 percent zinc (Not NI 43-101 compliant. Sufficient exploration work has not been completed to verify and classify as a current mineral resource, but the estimate is considered relevant and reliable due to extensive exploration work completed by previous operators). Forum’s geological team has identified further targets and completed a prospecting and sampling program.Quartz Gulch Cobalt, Idaho, USA (Forum 100 percent): On trend with Jervois Mining’s Idaho Cobalt Project, the only permitted cobalt mine in North America.
Forum’s uranium and energy metal projects in northern Saskatchewan
Management & Advisory Team Members
Richard J. Mazur – President, CEO and Director
Richard Mazur is an executive and geoscientist with over 45 years of Canadian and international experience in the exploration and mining industry as a project geologist, financial analyst and senior executive on uranium, gold, diamonds, base metals and industrial minerals projects. Rick founded Forum in 2004. He is also a director of Big Ridge Gold Corp., Impact Silver Corp. and Midnight Sun Mining Corp. Mazur graduated with a B.Sc. in geology from the University of Toronto in 1975 and obtained an MBA from Queen’s University in 1985.
Dr. Rebecca Hunter – Vice-president of Exploration
Dr. Rebecca Hunter has over 15 years of experience as a uranium exploration geologist in Saskatchewan and Nunavut. As a project geologist for Cameco from 2005 to 2016, Hunter led the Turaqvik-Aberdeen exploration project, where the high-grade Tatiggaq and Qavvik uranium deposits were discovered adjacent to Orano’s (formerly AREVA) Kiggavik uranium project in Nunavut. Hunter completed her PhD at Laurentian University, which focused on the litho-geochemistry, structural geology and uranium mineralization systems of the Tatiggaq-Qavvik uranium trend in the Thelon Basin. She was recently appointed VP exploration, and will continue her lead work on the Nunavut Uranium project in the Thelon Basin, a geologic analogue to the prolific Athabasca Basin, as the lead member of Forum’s exploration team.
Martin Kulla – Project Geologist
Martin Kulla has eight years of project experience exploring for gold, base metals and uranium in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and the Yukon. Kulla began his studies at Dawson College in BC and in 2018 graduated from Memorial University in Newfoundland with an Honors BSc in Earth Sciences. He joined Forum’s exploration team in 2023.
Dan O’Brien – Chief Financial Officer
Dan O’Brien is a member of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia and has over 15 years experience working with public companies in the resource industry. O’Brien is the chief financial officer for a number of publicly listed exploration companies trading on the TSX and TSX-V exchanges and was previously a senior manager at a leading Canadian accounting firm where he specialized in the audit of public companies in the mining and resource sector.
Anthony Balme – Director
Anthony Balme is the managing director of Carter Capital and Lymington Underwriting, two private UK investment funds, where he is an active participant in several global base and precious metals resource ventures in North America, Sweden and the DRC.
Paul Dennison – Director
Paul Dennison worked for 27 years in the front end of three leading investment banks: Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch & Deutsche Bank. His focus was capital markets origination, underwriting, sales and trading in all regions outside the Americas. Thereafter, Dennison managed his own asset management company for 12 years, which was licensed in Singapore, Switzerland and the United States. He is currently based in Zurich and Singapore with his own firm, specializing as an introducing broker, sourcing international investment capital for clients.
Janet Meiklejohn – Director
Janet Meiklejohn is the principal of Emerald Capital, a consulting company providing CFO, strategic, valuation, corporate governance and marketing services to high-growth companies. She was formerly VP of institutional equity sales focused on the mining sector with several Canadian investment banks including Desjardins Securities, National Bank, Salman Partners and Macquarie Capital from 1997 to 2015. Meiklejohn grew up in Saskatchewan and has a close personal interest in the development of the uranium industry in the province.
David Cowan – Director
David Cowan practiced corporate and securities law for over 35 years, most recently as a Partner in the law firm McMillan LLP, before entering semi-retirement. He continues to serve as Forum’s in-house counsel and advises a select group of companies on securities and corporate law matters. He also serves as an independent director for several TSXV-listed companies, primarily in the mining sector.
Larry Okada – Director
Larry Okada is a member of both the Canadian Chartered Professional Accountants and the Washington State Certified Public Accountants Association with over 45 years of experience in providing financial management services to publicly traded companies, with emphasis on junior mineral exploration companies. He holds a B.A. in economics and was in public practice with his own firm of Staley, Okada and Partners and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Okada also serves as chairman of Forum’s Audit Committee.
Michael A. Steeves – Director
Michael A. Steeves has been involved in the mining industry for over 50 years. He has previously held executive positions with Zazu Metals, Glamis Gold, Coeur D’Alene Mines, Homestake Mining and Pegasus Gold. Steeves also worked for several years as a mining analyst. He holds a Master of Science degree in earth sciences from the University of Manitoba and is also a chartered financial analyst.