North Arrow grows lithium Moose herd

North Arrow Minerals Inc. July 11 announced its 2023 field exploration program at its DeStaffany lithium project in Northwest Territories, Canada, has confirmed the discovery of two new pegmatites – doubling the known spodumene pegmatite bodies found on the property.

"We've had a strong start to what is really the first full evaluation of the lithium potential of the DeStaffany property," said North Arrow President and CEO Ken Armstrong.

Acquired by North Arrow in January, DeStaffany is an early-stage exploration project roughly 18 kilometers (11 miles) northeast of Vital Metals Ltd.'s Nechalacho rare earths mine. Lying on the shores of the Great Slave Lake and approximately 115 kilometers (71 miles) from Northwest Territories' capital Yellowknife, this 1,843-hectare (4,554 acres) property was already known to host two lithium-tantalum-niobium pegmatites – Moose 1 and Moose 2.

Initially evaluated in the 1940s for just the tantalum and niobium, the Moose pegmatites have never been subject to a focused evaluation of their lithium potential despite the exposure of very large spodumene crystals up to one meter in length.

Kicking off its exploration program last month, the company has quickly reported some rather significant findings.

Initially conducting mapping, channel sampling, and bulk sampling of the known spodumene zones for mineral characterization and recovery studies to eventually delineate drilling to define strike and depth extent of these zones.

What the company perhaps did not expect, aside from the likely expansion of spodumene mineralization at Moose 1 and Moose 2, was the growth of the herd with Moose 3 and Moose 4.

Ground investigations of the two new Moose pegmatites have confirmed similar mineralogy and zoning to that of Moose 1 and Moose 2, including large spodumene crystals (less than 30 centimeters or 12 inches) identified in several surface bedrock exposures as Moose 3.

More good news, with a type A land use permit granted on July 7, North Arrow has added a new target for its planned drilling in August.

"The Moose 1 pegmatite has now been well sampled at surface with completion of 14 new channel samples. The length of individual rock sawn channels is limited by available bedrock exposure, so the upcoming drilling will be important for defining the true widths and size potential of the Moose pegmatites," said Armstrong. "The confirmation of significant spodumene mineralization at the Moose 3 pegmatite, located approximately 1 kilometer to the northwest of Moose 1, suggests it is a strong candidate for inclusion in the August drill program."

With 68 rock-sawn channel samples collected from all four pegmatites, including four samples collected from 14 channels over a roughly 300-meter strike extent of the Moose 1 pegmatite, a picture of DeStaffany is beginning to be painted.

With samples in hand, mineralogical characterization for Moose 1 and Moose 2 has allowed North Arrow to also begin evaluating the suitability of possible ore sorting technology to produce spodumene concentrate from Moose 2.

"The combination of drilling and surface sampling at DeStaffany this summer is intended to rapidly evaluate the resource potential of these pegmatites," added Armstrong. "The location of Moose 1 and Moose 2, within 300 metres of the shoreline of Great Slave Lake, is unique in the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province, and allows for excellent access to the property, including barge access to the NWT's railhead in Hay River."

As it is still extremely early days, the size potential of Moose 3 and Moose 4 remains uncertain due to significant overburden limiting exposure; however, their similarities in mineralogy to the elder Moose pegmatites indicate follow-up drill-testing is desirable.

"The next phase of work will utilize barges to mobilize equipment, including a diamond drill, to the property in early August," said the North Arrow CEO.