Titan Uranium partners with Japanese government corporation on Sask exploration

A Saskatchewan mineral exploration company and Japan’s government-owned natural resource corporation are teaming up to look for uranium in the Athabasca River basin.

Under the terms of an agreement signed Friday, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. will invest $9 million in exploration projects managed by Saskatoon-based Titan Uranium Inc. (TSXV:TUE) over the next three years.

In exchange, JOGMEC can acquire a 50 per cent stake in Virgin Trend Project, a large property Titan holds cutting right through the centre of the uranium-rich basin in northern Saskatchewan.

Titan CEO Philip Olson says that at the end of three years the two companies hope to have a better understanding of the area.

“We expect to have some significant knowledge in terms of what our property looks like in terms of the geology and its uranium potential,” Olson said.

“Japan is very forward thinking. What they have done is they have looked at what their energy requirements will be out well into the future and they recognized that nuclear has to be a significant component.”

This is JOGMEC’s first investment in northern Saskatchewan. For an extra $6 million, the agreement gives JOGMEC the option of exclusive marketing rights of the mineral products in the area for 10 years after the start of commercial production.

“Canada has a lot of uranium resources and is a very important country,” said Nobuyuki Kawamura, the company’s director of uranium exploration. “Uranium is very important for Japan because, in Japan, there isn’t uranium resources.”

Saskatchewan is the world’s largest producer of uranium and developing the industry has become a key priority for the provincial government.

The province played the role of Cupid in the deal Friday. Titan and JOGMEC were brought together after a trade mission the government made to Japan two years ago, said Enterprise Minister Lyle Stewart.

“It’s the potential find at the end of that exploration process that could be huge for the province,” Stewart said. “There’s a very good chance this could result, down the road, in a new mine.”

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