Balkan Mining and Minerals Ltd (ASX: BMM) has obtained high-grade samples during its recent Due Diligence programme at the Gorge Lithium exploration project located in the Georgia Lake Area, Thunder Bay North Mining District of Ontario, Canada.
During the company’s due diligence, five grab samples were collected and sent to ActLabs in Toronto for analysis. From these five samples, four samples included Li2O values above 3.78%, with the two highest results being returned at 5.75% and 6.80%.
The Thunder Bay region of Ontario has been the focus of lithium pegmatite exploration works with the delineation of hard rock lithium deposits including Rock Tech Lithium Inc’s Georgia Lake project in 2021, and Imagine Lithium Inc’s Jackpot Lithium project and works carried out by Ultra Lithium Inc Georgia Lake and Forgan Lake Projects, to name a few.
Due Diligence
CSA Global was engaged by BMM to execute a Due Diligence assignment of the Gorge Lithium Project located approximately 215 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and approximately 60 km southwest of Geraldton, Ontario.
Historical Data Review
The historical data review for the Project indicates that there is adequate historical information available to incorporate into a digital and georeferenced database for the purposes of planning initial exploration programs such as additional field mapping and prospecting, rock and chip sampling, and trenching and channel sampling of spodumene-bearing pegmatites in the project area.
Site Visit Summary
CSA representatives undertook a field verification and independent witness (IW) sampling programme during the site visit to the Project to confirm the available historical information.
The field verification process included verifying the locations of the 2018 rock and chip samples collected by a previous operator in the Koshman and Nelson lithium occurrences and pegmatites using a portable GPS and mapping software and finding evidence of spodumene mineralisation within the granitic pegmatite units on the property.
A total of five rock samples were collected by CSA at both spodumene-bearing mineral occurrences/pegmatites for independent laboratory testing of Li% and Li2O% content and checking for reproducibility of the 2018 rock sampling results, returning grades of Li2O of up to 6.8%. The site visit confirmed the existence of the outcrops.
Spodumene varying from disseminated (groundmass) to several centimetres wide in size were found within 30 to 50 cm wide pegmatite units in association with quartz, feldspar, hornblende, muscovite, beryl and other minerals. CSA confirmed that the locations of the 2018 rock and chip samples are correct based on their GPS map checks and field traverses and there was evidence of this historical sampling including broken float and pegmatitic boulders in the vicinity of the historical sample locations.
“We are pleased to update the market with the findings of our Due Diligence programme post the overwhelming shareholder support at our General Meeting in favour of our diversification strategy into a Tier 1 mining Jurisdiction in Ontario, Canada,” Managing Director Ross Cotton said.
“The initial results are a great start for the company as we plan on a mapping, sampling and trenching program to commence during the Canadian fall. We thank CSA Global, our Canadian vendors and our brilliant team to get us off to such a promising start.”
For further information please visit: https://www.balkanmin.com/
