Denison Mines Corp. plans to conduct a C$6 million exploration program in 2019 targeting its uranium-prospective Wheeler River, Waterbury Lake and Hook-Carter properties in northern Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin.

The program includes 13,500 meters of diamond drilling at the flagship Wheeler River project, budgeted at C$3.2 million, and focused on discovering uranium deposits that may be minable using the in situ recovery method.

The program is scheduled to start in early January and will be followed by a summer drilling program, according to a Jan. 9 release.

In December 2018, the company separately approved a C$10.3 million wider budget to advance Wheeler River, covering the initiation of an environmental assessment process, engineering studies, pilot plant testing and exploration activities.

At Waterbury Lake, Denison will spend C$1.8 million on about 7,300 meters of diamond drilling focused on testing additional high-priority target areas.

Drilling is expected to start in mid-January and be complete within the winter season.

A 3,900-meter diamond drilling program at Hook-Carter with a C$1.4 million budget will test high-priority geophysical targets.