The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Pending results may be postponed indefinitely due to wildfire North of 60 Mining News – August 18, 2023
Lithium oxide samples from the MK1 pegmatite at MacKay.
Although not directly pictured, MacKay can be found on the bottom-right side of LDG (yellow square) on the other side of the body of water, next to the legend.
North Arrow Minerals Inc. August 14 announced the prospecting results from its mapping and sampling program at the company's recently acquired McKay lithium project in Northwest Territories, Canada, reporting four grab samples with significant lithium content.
Approximately six kilometers (four miles) from the edge of its Lac de Gras diamond-lithium project, the MacKay project is found near the MacKay Lake area in Northwest Territories.
Immediately adjacent to the winter road connecting NWT's capital Yellowknife with the Ekati and Diavik mines in the Lac de Gras region, the MacKay pegmatites were identified and staked by North Arrow in an area where, in the 1940s, the Geological Survey of Canada noted tantalite mineralization within tourmaline-muscovite pegmatites.
Determining the historical records had some credibility, North Arrow staked out the forgotten region and got to work.
Four grab samples collected from the MK1 spodumene pegmatite ranged in weight from 450 grams (one pound) to 2,060 grams (4.5 lb) and returned 2.45%, 2.51%, 2.76%, and 3.74% lithium oxide.
Collected in June during initial prospecting of the property, they were intended as a first-pass evaluation of spodumene mineralization within the pegmatite, and the company says they should not be considered representative of the overall project.
Nevertheless, the samples contained visual spodumene crystals ranging from two to four centimeters in length and were collected at four locations over a 120-meter strike length of the pegmatite.
"We are pleased to confirm that significant lithium grades are at least locally present in the MK1 spodumene pegmatite at North Arrow's MacKay lithium project," said North Arrow Minerals President and CEO Ken Armstrong. "MK1 is an important addition to our lithium exploration portfolio, located within the same geological setting as spodumene pegmatites on North Arrow's LDG Lithium Property, approximately 20 km to the north, where an exploration drill program is scheduled to start later this month."
Follow-up mapping of the pegmatite was completed in mid-July and indicated that MK1 consists of a series of irregular sub-parallel pegmatite dykes ranging from 0.5 meters to greater than 10 meters wide over a combined width of up to 150 meters and traced over an interpreted strike extent of greater than 400 meters.
Interpretations are based on low-relief bedrock exposures, with significant overburden coverage providing scope for expanding the pegmatite along strike. Rock sawn channel samples have also been collected from MK1 and submitted to ALS Global in Yellowknife for analysis; however, it may be some time before North Arrow receives results due to the recent evacuation of the capital due to ongoing wildfires in the north.
"North Arrow is requesting permission to include MK1 under the existing LDG land use permit and, if granted in time, it could be included as part of the drilling program," added Armstrong.
Reader Comments(0)