News
Azincourt Energy options Big Hill from Atlantis Battery
2023-04-21 09:06 ET - News Release
Mr. Alex Klenman reports
AZINCOURT ENERGY OPTIONS BIG HILL LITHIUM PROJECT
Azincourt Energy Corp. has entered into a definitive property option agreement, dated April, 19, 2023, with Atlantis Battery Metals Corp. (the optionor), an arm's-length party, pursuant to which it has been granted the option to acquire up to a 75-per-cent interest in three exploration licences covering 300 contiguous mineral claims located in the province of Newfoundland and collectively known as the Big Hill lithium project.
The Big Hill lithium project is a 7,500-hectare lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) exploration property located in southwestern Newfoundland, Canada, along the south side of the Hermitage flexure, approximately five kilometres south of the Benton/Sokoman joint venture partnership (the alliance) discovery of the Kraken lithium pegmatite field (1.04 per cent Li2O (lithium oxide) over 15.23 metres, 8.4 metres of 0.95 per cent Li2O and 5.5 metres of 1.16 per cent Li2O). The Benton/Sokoman JV partnership has also discovered the cesium-tantalum-rubidium-lithium Hydra dike, which is located 12 kilometres northeast of the Kraken lithium pegmatite field. Channel samples returned results as high as 8.76 per cent Cs2O (cesium monoxide), 0.41 per cent Li2O, 0.025 per cent Ta2O5 (tantalum pentoxide) and 0.33 per cent Rb2O (rubidium oxide) over 1.20 metres.
The Kraken lithium pegmatite discovery features numerous granitic dikes and unmapped pegmatites in a variety of rock types with a strike length up to 40 kilometres in length. The Big Hill lithium property is host primarily in the Burgeo granite with large enclaves of older mafic paragneiss. The boundary between the two properties is marked by the Hermitage flexure, which in part appears to be locally segmented by subparallel fault segments, and the intrusive contact between the Burgeo granite and older stratigraphy. Similar structural controls are recognized within the global tectonic boundary stretching from the Carolina tin-spodumene belt, through Avalonia in Nova Scotia, to Newfoundland, and then on to Laurentia (Leinster) on the east side of the Atlantic Ocean.
At the Big Hill lithium project, numerous granite dikes can be seen cutting the Burgeo granite. Coarse-grained pegmatite dikes greater than two metres wide and 20 metres long occur south of the property and are anticipated to be present on the Big Hill exploration licences.
Recent preliminary prospecting at Big Hill has identified four known target areas, based on extrapolation of bedrock geology, structural disaggregation of stratigraphic blocks, and apparent folding and late shear faulting. Similar structural elements are observed in the Kraken lithium pegmatite field, although host rocks differ. These targets are known as the River, Road, MK and Ridge targets and will be the focus of the initial exploration.
Initial soil and rock assay results, along with other geological information, are expected by mid-June. Other information suggesting potential for lithium-bearing pegmatite mineralization comes from extrapolation and evaluation of multiple shear fault orientations projected onto the property. Strike length of the targets ranges from 1.5 to 5.5 kilometres.
The area around the Big Hill lithium project has seen extensive mineral exploration over the past several decades. The Peter Snout mineral occurrences immediately east of the Kraken lithium pegmatite discovery and the White Bear River area farther to the northeast have seen exploration for many years for polymetallic mineralization, but not for lithium until 2021. The Grey River area to the southeast has been explored for many years for tungsten and gold. The Hope Brook mine, located to the southwest of Big Hill, operated from 1987 until 1997 and produced 752,163 ounces of gold.
"We're pleased to add this project to our portfolio. The potential at Big Hill is significant," said president and chief executive officer Alex Klenman. "The area is underexplored for lithium, and thanks to the highly impactful Kraken find, we feel it's extremely prospective for additional, substantial discoveries. The project has size, numerous priority targets and the potential for many more. With year-round access this project gives us the ability to be active outside of our normal, limited, winter drilling window at the East Preston uranium project in Saskatchewan.
"The team at the optionor, Atlantis Battery Metals, has extensive exploration success in the lithium space and will provide ongoing technical support. We share the belief that Big Hill is a meaningful exploration opportunity, and their ongoing technical involvement was an important consideration in making the deal. We're excited to utilize their expertise going forward. Over all, this is a great opportunity for Azincourt, and we look forward to announcing immediate exploration plans in the coming weeks," continued Mr. Klenman.
The terms of the option provide that the optionor will act as operator throughout the option period, in conjunction and close collaboration with Azincourt's management team. The project was identified by the team at the optionor, which includes Nick Rowley and James Abson. Mr. Rowley is an experienced corporate executive with a strong financial background with over 16 years experience specializing in marketing and sales of various raw materials, corporate advisory, merger and acquisition transactions, and equities markets. His most recent position was director -- corporate development of Australian Securities Exchange-listed lithium company Galaxy Resources Ltd. Mr. Rowley through this role saw the implementation and closing of the $6-billion (Australian) merger with Orocobre Ltd., which created the world's fifth-largest lithium producer, Allkem, in mid-2021.
Mr. Abson is a professional geologist with over 28 years of experience in multicommodity mining and mineral exploration, specializing in lithium and tantalum. He was previously chief geologist and exploration manager for Bikita Minerals Lithium in Zimbabwe, where he primarily oversaw the geology department that undertook the pit reserve and resource expansion and hard-rock mineral resource exploration for spodumene. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Abson has also been involved in the exploration and assessment of various lithium plus tin-tantalum pegmatite projects in Afghanistan and Africa, including the Manono lithium project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Desert Lion and UIS in Namibia, and the Arcadia lithium mine in Zimbabwe.
Mr. Abson was educated at Rhodes University, South Africa, and holds a BSc honours degree in geology. He has also been registered as a professional natural scientist for over 13 years.
Option terms
Pursuant to terms of the option, the company can acquire a 60-per-cent interest in the project by completing a series of cash payments and share issuances, and incurring certain expenditures on the project, as noted herein.
Following completion of these requirements, the company will hold a 60-per-cent interest in the project. The company will then have a further option, exercisable for a period of 30 business days, to acquire a further 15-per-cent interest in the project by completing a one-time cash payment to the optionor equivalent to the fair market value of the interest at the time. In the event the company elects to exercise this additional option, the fair market value will be determined by a mutually agreeable independent third party valuator.
All securities issued in connection with the option will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period. A finder's fee totalling $20,000 cash and 1.31 million common shares is payable by the company to an arm's-length third party in connection with the option, of which $20,000 cash and 935,000 shares are payable upon closing of the option with the remaining common shares issuable upon completion of the second anniversary payments and expenditures needed to maintain the option in good standing. The option remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
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 on behalf of the company by Paul K. Smith, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Azincourt Energy Corp.
Azincourt is a Canadian-based resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of alternative energy/fuel projects, including uranium, lithium and other critical clean energy elements. The company is currently active at its joint venture East Preston uranium project, while pursuing an option agreement on the Hatchet Lake uranium project, both located in the Athabasca basin, Saskatchewan, Canada.
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