MEEKER | According to press releases, Homeland Uranium Corp., a British Columbian firm, has confirmed multiple radioactive horizons at its Coyote Basin and Red Wash uranium projects in northwestern Colorado and has begun drilling the first holes of its Phase II exploration program.
The company released results from its 2025 Phase I bedrock mapping program in August and announced in November that drill crews had mobilized to the Coyote Basin site in Rio Blanco and Moffat counties. Coyote Basin is approximately 20 miles northwest of Meeker.
Phase I mapping confirmed the presence and location of four variably radioactive stratigraphic horizons first identified in the late 1970s by Western Mining Resources, a previous operator. Homeland reported anomalous radioactivity up to eight times background levels — as high as 400 counts per second — in thin beds along intermittent outcrops that extend roughly 14 kilometers. The highest readings were recorded in Horizon 2, part of the Fort Union Formation.
Elevated radioactivity was found in the Open Gulch area within Horizons 1 and 2, which also coincides with historical drilling. The southern edge of one of the anomalous zones lies near historical drill hole CB-106, where the company believes additional strike extensions may still exist. Homeland collected 89 rock samples from Coyote Basin for analysis through the Saskatchewan Research Council; results are pending.
At the Red Wash Project (further west of the Coyote Basin site), prospecting identified a weakly radioactive horizon measuring up to twice background levels, or 109 cps. Five samples were submitted for laboratory analysis. The company expects additional mapping at Red Wash in summer 2026 to help identify potential drill targets.
Homeland began its maiden drilling campaign at Coyote Basin in November. Part 1 of the program includes about 35 reverse-circulation drill holes totaling roughly 17,000 feet and is expected to take six to eight weeks. Drilling is focused on historical resource areas identified by Western Mining and confirmed during Homeland’s June mapping program.
The full Phase II plan calls for 50 to 70 holes totaling approximately 33,000 feet. Locations for Part 2 drilling will depend on Part 1 results and will require additional permits from the Bureau of Land Management and the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety.
Drill holes will be spaced about 200 meters apart. Each will be surveyed with a wireline gamma probe to detect uranium in place, and cuttings will be scanned using a handheld X-ray fluorescence analyzer to guide sample selection.
Homeland President and CEO Roger Lemaitre said the company aims to begin validating and updating the historical uranium resource at Coyote Basin through modern drilling standards.
Coyote Basin was previously reported by Energy Metals Corp. to contain an estimated historical resource of 8.85 million tons grading 0.20% U₃O₈ and 0.10% V₂O₅, totaling 35.4 million pounds of uranium oxide and 17.7 million pounds of vanadium oxide. Those figures were based on Western Mining’s 1978–79 exploration work, including 24 drill holes and surface sampling.
The historical estimate does not meet current National Instrument 43-101 standards and should not be relied upon. Additional drilling and analysis will be required before any modern resource calculation can be completed.
Homeland Uranium owns the Coyote Basin, Red Wash and Cross Bones uranium projects in northwestern Colorado.
