Athabasca Nuclear Corporation Reports Assay Results

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Jul 22, 2014) - Athabasca Nuclear Corp. (TSX VENTURE:ASC) ("Athabasca Nuclear" or the "Corporation") reports inaugural drill assay results from the Preston Uranium Property (the "Property") being explored by the Western Athabasca Syndicate (the "Syndicate"). Three out of fifteen existing targets received preliminary drill testing this spring, including the Swoosh (7 holes), CHA (1 hole) and FSA (1 hole) targets. The drilling totaled 1902.7 meters over 9 holes.

Highlights:

• Anomalous radioactivity discovered in the drilling is associated with EM conductors and gravity low anomalies which are the result of strong hematite, chlorite and clay alteration of the structurally disrupted lithologies; this is consistent with being in a mineralization halo and is common to many Athabasca Basin uranium deposits
• The best intercept to-date from the drill program returned 8.82 ppm U and 360 ppm Th over 0.5 meters in hole PN14003 at the Swoosh target.
• Th/U and Pb isotope ratios, and evidence for deformation/alteration suggest that most zones at the Swoosh target area have undergone uranium depletion and may have at one time hosted significant uranium mineralization; as such, directly adjacent targets should be investigated for places where the uranium could have been re-deposited
• Loss of circulation near the bottom of the FSA target drill hole occurred just prior to the geophysical target depth; blue clay encountered at the bottom of the hole is likely gouged, altered graphite, strongly anomalous in silver, and with a relatively high radiometric-sourced Pb isotopic signature that warrants further follow up
• The Syndicate's Technical Team considers these findings in the first drill program at Preston to be a breakthrough towards potentially identifying economic levels of uranium mineralization at shallow depths; further exploration work and drill campaign planning is underway

Drill targets were chosen based on results from a combination of airborne geophysical, geochemical and geological surveys carried out during 2013, which were then further refined by ground HLEM and gravity geophysical surveys.

The results from the drilling are very encouraging and confirm the presence of widespread alteration, structural disruption and radioactivity that are typically associated with uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin. As well as additional testing of the areas targeted with the 2014 drilling, the Syndicate is also planning further work to better define drill targets at the other twelve target areas defined by fieldwork to date. The majority of uranium targets on the Property have not yet received any drill exploration.

Swoosh Target Assay Results:

Seven widely-spaced drill holes tested two targets (S3 and S6) within the broader Swoosh area, which is defined by a 6-km long corridor defined by coincident gravity, magnetic and EM geophysical surveys, and surficial geochemical anomalies. Six holes were completed to depths of between 200 and 360 meters downhole, with one hole abandoned due to poor drilling conditions. Overburden depth varies from 4 to 38 meters and immediately overlies basement rock. The five holes completed on the S6 target area tested two distinct steep NW-dipping conductor traces associated with a 650 meter by 350 meter gravity low anomaly. Every hole encountered graphite within highly deformed metasediment, orthogneiss and locally pegmatitic lithologies. Portable Infrared Mineral Analyser (PIMA) results confirmed the presence of extensive chlorite and clay alteration, as well as significant illite alteration in the northernmost hole PN14001. This alteration and deformation could effectively explain the gravity anomaly at S6 and further confirms the Swoosh area as being the focus of intense hydrothermal alteration which is common to other Athabasca Basin uranium deposits.

The best intercept out of 125 drill core samples collected from holes testing the Swoosh area was from PN14003 which returned 0.5 meters of 8.82 ppm U and 360 ppm Th associated with mixed granodiorite and graphitic mylonite. Analyses of the U to Th ratios, in light of the strong deformational history, suggests that the S6 target has been subject to high degrees of uranium depletion and may have at one time hosted significant uranium mineralization which could have been re-deposited nearby.

CHA Target Assay Results:

The CHA area is located approximately 19 km west from the Swoosh area. A single initial hole, PN14008, drill tested an EM conductor near the hinge of a major fold structure in an area of elevated uranium and radon geochemical anomalies. This hole intersected gneiss and orthogneiss within broad zones of cataclastic deformation. Fault gouge associated with disseminated graphite and strong chlorite, epidote, talc and clay alteration may explain the airborne and HLEM conductors at this zone. Like Swoosh, radioactivity from the first CHA hole is thorium-rich, with the best assayed intercept returning 4.25 ppm U and 62 ppm Th over 1.0 meter.

FSA Target Assay Results:

At the FSA area, located approximately 27 kilometers west of the Swoosh area, a single drill hole, PN14009, tested an E-NE trending magnetic low coincident with airborne EM and ground based HLEM conductors that are in part associated with pronounced gravity anomalies. In addition to the geophysical anomalies, this target has outcrop nearby that exhibits structural deformation and returned anomalous uranium values from rock grab samples including one sample that returned 45.7 ppm U. The single drill hole was collared in granodiorite gneiss and then intersected mylonitic pelitic gneiss coincident with intense shearing and chlorite, hematite, silica and clay alteration. The hole was abandoned at 150.3 meters after intersecting a bluish-grey clay-rich lithology at the contact between the overlying orthogneiss and metasediments. The best intercept out of 16 samples returned 5.84 ppm U and 19.5 ppm Th over 1.0 meter. The clay-rich unit returned highly anomalous silver values and a relatively high radiometrically-sourced Pb isotopic signature that warrants further follow up drilling.

Management cautions, mineralization present on proximal properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Syndicate's Property.

Qualified Person:

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Richard Kusmirski, P.Geo., M.Sc., Skyharbour's Head Technical Advisor and a Director, as well as a Qualified Person.

About Athabasca Nuclear Corporation

Athabasca Nuclear Corp. (TSX VENTURE:ASC) is an exploration company based in Calgary, Alberta which is focused on uranium exploration in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Signed,

Ryan Kalt, Chief Executive Officer

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently expected or forecast in such statements.

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