Canada's Refined Energy Corp has announced that drilling has started on the first hole of its maiden drill programme at the Dufferin West property, in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin uranium district.

The drill is targeting a promising electromagnetic conductor defined by previous airborne VTEM data and refined by a recently completed time-domain moving loop EM (TEM) ground geophysical programme.

Refined will carry out an initial three drill holes totalling abourt1200m, with oriented core collection to provide critical geological and structural information.  Refined will also carry out a ground gravity survey to further refine and prioritize additional drill targets.  

Dufferin West represents a technically promising exploration opportunity, driven by integrated geophysical, geological and structural interpretations.  Work to date has confirmed key NE-SW trending structural corridors consistent with known uranium mineralization systems across the Athabasca Basin. The Dufferin Project is considered prospective for uranium mineralisation.

Refined CEO Mark Fields said: "This programme is the culmination of extensive geophysical and technical work that has identified prospective targets in one of the world's most prolific uranium districts."

With uranium prices strengthening and global demand for nuclear power accelerating, Refined says it is well positioned f next cycle foe the next cycle of uranium exploration and discovery at the site.

The Athabasca Basin's high-grade uranium discoveries consists of 19 mineral tenures over 14,800ha.

Refined Energy has an option agreement up to a 75% interest in the Dufferin Project, which consists of two properties, the Dufferin West and Dufferin.

Demand for uranium is forecast to surge, with analysts indicating a 28% increase by 2030 as government's scale up nuclear power capacity.