The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Options an extension of road accessible Ki pegmatite in NWT North of 60 Mining News - February 22, 2023
Map of Li-FT's Yellowknife lithium properties. The newly optioned properties are immediately north of Ki.
Li-FT's newly optioned property covers outcropping lithium-enriched pegmatites extending north from its Ki mineral lease.
Li-FT Power Ltd. Feb. 21 announced that it has optioned two large land packages covering potential extensions of the lithium occurrences on its properties in the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province, Northwest Territories.
In January, Li-FT announced the acquisition of the Yellowknife lithium project, which covers at least 14 pegmatites – igneous rocks with exceptionally large crystals that are the major source of hardrock lithium worldwide – on mineral leases that are 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast and 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of the NWT capital.
Historical channel sampling of pegmatite outcrops that are clearly visible on satellite images have produced average grades from 1.1 to 1.59% lithium oxide over widths of seven to 40 meters. These lithium-bearing pegmatites can be traced on the surface for 100 to 1,800 meters along strike.
Many of the pegmatite outcrops in the Yellowknife lithium project can be accessed by roads that extend to the NWT capital.
Now, Li-FT has optioned the 991-hectare (2,450 acres) Thompson-Lundmark project immediately north of its Ki mineral lease, which is in the road-accessible area of the Yellowknife lithium project, plus a second 115-hectare (284 acres) property on the north side of Thompson-Lundmark.
The lithium pegmatite dykes at Thompson-Lundmark have widths on surface up to 25 meters and are on strike with Li-FT's Ki lithium pegmatite, where one hole drilled in the 1970s was reported to have cut 13 meters averaging 1.8% lithium oxide. Outcrops of the Ki pegmatite have been described to contain 15 to 20% spodumene content approximately 40 meters from the boundary with Thompson-Lundmark. The dykes on the newly optioned property add 600 meters of strike length to the Ki pegmatite system.
"Securing the Thompson-Lundmark property is an accretive transaction for Li-FT and increases the strike length of the Ki pegmatite system to 1,500 meters," said Li-FT Power CEO Francis MacDonald. "With maximum widths of 25 meters, we believe the Ki pegmatite has the potential to host a significant stand-alone lithium resource, but its proximity to the Fi Main and Fi Southwest dykes is favorable to establishing a center of mass for the road accessible group of lithium pegmatites within our Yellowknife Lithium Project."
In order to exercise the option, Li-FT has agreed to pay C$3 million in cash and invest C$1.3 million in exploration on the property over the next two years.
Upon exercising the option, the company will grant a 1.5% net smelter returns royalty on the Property to Perlis, the private firm that owns the property. Li-FT has the option to buy back 0.5% of the royalty at any time for C$500,000 in cash.
Li-FT says the lithium-rich pegmatite spanning the Ki-Thompson-Lundmark properties will be one of the targets for systematic drilling to begin later this year.
"We look forward to drilling the Ki pegmatite, as well as the other seven drill-ready pegmatites in the Yellowknife Lithium Project, within the next months," said MacDonald.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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