Article from Mining Journal
Prospecting and Mining Journal
July 2010 (Vol. 79, No. 11)
The Whabouchi Lithium Project
by Leonard Melman
Without question, the unique metal lithium has been the focus of a great deal of attention recently, following the development of lithium-ion battery demand projected for hybrid and electric vehicles. As a result, the mining industry has been actively seeking to develop lithium resources, and an area receiving increasing attention is inside the Canadian province of Quebec, to the east of James Bay.
One company that is actively working to develop their lithium property is Nemaska Exploration, with their primary project located near the Cree community of Nemaska, situated on the shores of Champion Lake. Their lithium project is called “Whabouchi,” and according to the company’s recently released NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate, it also contains significant beryllium values. Whabouchi is 100% owned by the company, having been purchased from a prior individual owner. Their roster of projects also includes the Nisk-1 polymetallic project, purchased from previous owner Golden Goose, where a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate showed Measured and Indicated resources of 47,420,000 pounds of nickel and 24,591,380 pounds of copper, plus lesser values of cobalt, platinum and palladium.
The company is concentrating on advancing the Whabouchi lithium project as rapidly as possible. After acquiring the project in September 2009, Nemaska immediately carried out an exploration program involving 900 meters of drilling and the recovery of samples from 16 trenches. The drilling confirmed results that had been obtained 45 years earlier by a subsidiary of Inco. During the prior drilling, lithium grades averaging 1.44% were encountered, but the newer holes showed intercepts including 65.74 meters grading 1.92% Li2O and 20.76 meters grading 1.74%.
Since acquiring the project, Nemaska has completed over 12,000 meters of drilling, including one hole to explore the deposit at depth. That hole encountered mineralization that assayed at 1.61% Li2O over 79.2 meters from 383.8 meters to 463 meters across a true width of 46.7 meters. Although assays from this hole were received too late to become part of the NI 43-101 Resource Estimate released May 31, 2010, they represent the deepest location of ore discovered to date at Whabouchi.
The Resource Estimate showed 9,774,000 metric tonnes in the Measured and Indicated categories containing Li2O ore graded at 1.63% and beryllium ore grading 449 parts per million (ppm). Resources were calculated at 74,000 tonnes of lithium and 1,600 tonnes of beryllium, rounded to the nearest 100 tonnes. In addition, the Estimate also included 15,396,000 tonnes of ore in the Inferred category, grading 1.57% Li2O and 420 ppm beryllium, and containing 112,100 tonnes of lithium metal and 2,300 tonnes of beryllium metal.
Please do your due diligence
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