The Case for Case Lake- This is a Long One!Hey folks, today we are going to be definitively looking at why Case Lake is such an exciting prospect! There is a lot of, “go look at this diagram over here involved,” so I will do my best to provide navigation directions in addition to links etc. The visuals are a deal breaker, so I definitely recommend taking the time to check things out!
Extremely TLDR: Case Lake is an excellent prospect because it has identified multiple surface level pegmatitic dykes containing lithium, as well as a good quantity of Cesium in the West Joe dyke. The company has stated that they are looking to release a mineral resource estimate in 2023 following this summer’s drilling.
There is a very strong prospect for additional mineralized dykes just below the surface implied by the Cesium discovery at West Joe. The Cesium at West Joe is an indicator of the ‘top’ of a mineralized dyke, as well as being valuable in and of itself.
The sub-surface Cesium hits at the Main and Northeast Dykes also suggests the potential for similar mineralization. This mineralization seems to occur along a trend identifiable on the 2023 mag image running from West Joe to Main to Northeast. The potential for mineralization along this type of feature on the 2023 mag map is strongly supported by the identified East Dyke and East Dyke extension mineralization, which, on a 2017 map identifying strike length, mirrors the corresponding shape on the 2023 mag map.
Full report with navigation guides to the maps/images follows! As always keep in mind when I cite a page, I’m specifically referring to the physical page number as represented on the page, and not the page of the PDF file which might sometimes be different. (For example, page 1 of the document itself might begin on page 6 of the PDF as the PDF counts title page and preambles etc.)
General Features and Establishing the Model To get a good general understanding of what we’re dealing with, our first source is the Ontario Geological Survey Open File Report 6099- “Fertile Peraluminous Granites and Related Rare-Element Mineralization in Pegmatites, Superior Province, Northwest and Northeast Ontario: Operation Treasure Hunt” from 2003 by F.W. Breaks, J.B. Selway and A.G. Tindle.
https://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/OFR6099/OFR6099.pdf
This report contains a lot of high fallutin science, but what we’re most interested in is the diagrams on page 7. This is the first super important point to take in, and these two diagrams inform us of how these deposits are generally going to look. The higher points are the only places where minerals like pollucite will be found, with lithium mineralization occurring in this band as well and in the one immediately below it. This is because, to simplify things, the stuff at the top is most ‘developed’ ie it took the longest to resolidify after travelling upwards. If there is Cesium, that means the correct conditions were in place for it to form, and as a result there is a very strong likelihood that where there’s Cesium, there’s lithium as outlined by the model.
This publication is important for two reasons. Firstly, Case Lake is actually identified in the study, meaning that the theories and models posited have been applied to Case Lake by bonified geologists. And secondly, because it is cited by the geologists working for Power Metals to describe and study the deposit at Case Lake along with the results of subsequent exploration, they have confirmed it is appropriate to, and corresponds with, the mineralization at Case Lake.
Confirming the Model If you look at other cross sections of pegmatitic dykes around the world, this model indeed holds true. The dykes typically describe a half arc, with the angle and curvature of the arc varying significantly. Pollucite, if present, is found near the top. Below are links to some cross sections but you can google it yourself and browse through more if you would like <3
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Schematic-section-through-the-Bikita-Quarry-pegmatite-with-its-mineral-zones-modified_fig1_330105413
https://www.avalonadvancedmaterials.com/_resources/projects/lilypad4.jpg
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0169136822004632-gr14.jpg (featured in)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169136822004632 Tanco Mine Case Study Looking at Tanco is helpful because is incredibly well studied and there is a ton of information about it. The image cited below on page 11 of Field Trip Guidebook FT-C1 / Open File OF2013-8 The Tanco Mine: Geological Setting, Internal Zonation and Mineralogy of a World-Class Rare Element Pegmatite Deposit by T. Martins, P. Kremer and P. Vanstone is super important.
(Page 11) https://www.manitoba.ca/iem/info/libmin/gacmac/OF2013-8_FT-C1.pdf
https://www.mindat.org/photo-876035.html
(featured in)
https://www.mindat.org/article.php/2748/Tanco+Mine+Hydrothermal+Secondary+Minerals+
If you’re still reading, there’s a good chance you’ve been following some of my earlier reports and you’re going “Nafets…shut up about the Cesium already, there’s lithium here too.” You are right, but I won’t. But all of this is super important, because from this model, we can infer that the Cesium bearing pollucite zones can actually be indicators of a wider deposit, as well as being valuable in and of themselves.
If you go back and look at the cross section of the Tanco mine, the pollucite zone is this little lens right near the top, with the mineralized lithium bearing arc beneath it. In the case of Tanco, its absolutely enormous, I don’t think Case Lake will be quite that size.
What we can infer however, is that if Cesium bearing pollucite is present, it is very likely only going to be present in a small zone near the top of a much larger potential lithium bearing deposit. This is so important because it tells us a ton about what to expect at Case Lake.
Applying the Model to Case Lake So we know that the mineralization zones are these arc shaped things, rarer elements like Cesium occur at the top, and we’ve got a good idea of how these things look underground.
This is where that juicy pollucite pod 15 meters down comes into play. Not only is this literally some of the highest Cesium numbers produced globally, particularly notable because its in a geo-politically safe mining jurisdiction, but it is also an indicator of lithium mineralization. The possibility of buried dykes has long been noted by geologists including Julie Selway (NI 43-101 Technical Report Page 8-9), which is what excited them about the prospects here. This Cesium mineralization very strongly suggests that West Joe is sitting on top of a shallow buried dyke if the model holds true, which we have no reason to believe it doesn’t, and confirms the theories regarding the possibility of additional buried dykes on the property. This begs the question, are there more? Here’s where the mag map comes into play.
Available on SEDAR "NI 43-101 TECHNICAL REPORT CASE LAKE PROPERTY" Cochrane, Northeastern Ontario, Canada POWER METALS CORP. Suite 545 – 999 Canada Place Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 3E1 Canada Date: July 14, 2017
The Mag Images I emphasize the importance of the shallow buried branching structure identified in the mag images because in the wider context of exploration at Case Lake, we need to understand that it was literally only in May 2023 that we got a glimpse as to what was going on just below the surface with the release of these images. All exploration to this point has been conducted primarily based on what can be observed on the surface, combined with the 2018 magnetic map which did not produce results anywhere near as detailed as the 2023 attempt.
The mag images can be seen on PWM’s news releases about them.
https://powermetalscorp.com/news/2023/power-metals-completes-airborne-geophysical-surveys-at-case-lake/
The map identifying the East Dyke and East Dyke extension strike appears on page 38 of "NI 43-101 TECHNICAL REPORT CASE LAKE PROPERTY" Cochrane, Northeastern Ontario, Canada POWER METALS CORP. Suite 545 – 999 Canada Place Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 3E1 Canada Date: July 14, 2017 which is available on SEDAR!
When you overlay these two maps with an eye on the East Dyke, what immediately becomes apparent is that the branching structures on the 2023 map do in fact correlate to the identified strike on the 2017 map. Given that hits of 2% Cesium were seen at Main and Northeast at around 30 meters depth, it seems likely there are additional shallow dykes, and with Cesium mineralization to boot. Below are the specific holes in question:
Elevated Cs assays and pollucite has been previously identified in drill hole PWM-18-49 in the first new dyke below Main Dyke: 2.00 % Cs2O over 2.0 m interval, from 32.45 to 34.45 m
Elevated Cs assays has also been identified in drill hole PWM-18-71 in the Northeast Dyke: 2.52 % Cs2O over 1.0 m interval, from 25.0 to 26.0 m
Available on Sedar: Power Metals Corp. Form 51-102F1 Management Discussion and Analysis Six Months Ended May 31, 2023 Page 6 of 36)
Putting it all together Now combine the lithium play with the Cesium, potentially a geo-strategic material in the 5g revolution, and tantalum (I know the least about this, but also economic), and the fact that all of the mineralization is occurring at depths shallower than 50 meters, and often near the surface, in a politically safe jurisdiction, with year round road access, with Lithium refineries being constructed a 6 hour drive east AND west of this location, with the Quebec refineries having access to the East Coast for export, with the largest single drill program to date being conducted on the property ongoing utilizing the best sub-surface images obtained to date from May of this year, their Australian partner just upped their holding by 10% with the option to become a majority shareholder, and a mineral resource is slated for arrival before the years end- you can see why this is such an exciting prospect.
This isn’t even scratching the surface of my sweetheart Cesium. Folks don’t fully appreciate quite yet that the battlefield of the 21
st century is going to be fully networked- beginning with 5g technology, and cesium-atomic clocks are being examined by DARPA for this role as we speak. Every single combat vehicle in the future is going to need a 5g capable networking device to some degree to keep it properly functioning in the face of face of signal interference, and at the moment, Cesium atomic clocks appear to be the solution. Particularly important because DARPA is at the moment holding competitions to miniaturize them for use in tanks, IFV’s, etc. That’s going to be the next report though! Project convergence, DARPA, the battlefield of tomorrow, and the importance of accurate time keeping in advanced communciations technology!
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-world-smallest-atomic-clock.html
Annnnyway! I hope this lengthy report can help inform you as to why I think Case Lake has some amazing potential. I’m tempering my expectations for news next week- I’m feeling like it will be a “X number of drills have been deployed to the site” but a nice surprise to upside would always be nice! Thank you for making this far down and I hope you have an amazing day stranger! I’m more than happy to respond to any questions or clarifications about my research, methodology, or just disuccsuions in general as forum responses or direct messages here on stockhouse <3