DeStaffany lithium steady for North Arrow

North Arrow Minerals Inc. Aug. 28 announced the latest channel sample assay results from its DeStaffany lithium property in Northwest Territories, which maintain the significant lithium potential of this northern Canadian hard rock lithium project.

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 and approximately 115 kilometers (71 miles) from Northwest Territories' capital Yellowknife.

Historically, the 1,843-hectare (4,554 acres) DeStaffany property was known to host two lithium-tantalum-niobium pegmatites – Moose 1 and Moose 2.

After initial ground investigations, North Arrow quickly grew the Moose herd in July by discovering two new spodumene pegmatite bodies on the property – Moose 3 and Moose 4.

"Ongoing evaluation work at the DeStaffany property continues to support the significant lithium potential of the Moose pegmatites," said North Arrow Minerals President and CEO Ken Armstrong.

The latest results were collected from 20 cut channels that tested the Moose 1, 2, 3, and 4 pegmatites, which returned 68 rock-sawn samples, of which the majority were collected from Moose 1.

Channel lengths were determined by available, relatively flat, exposed outcrop rather than pegmatite/country rock contacts and ranged from one meter to five meters in length.

Mapped over a north-south strike length of approximately 350 meters, fourteen channels (54 samples), ranging from three meters to five meters in length, were cut at Moose 1 over a roughly 260-meter strike extent of the pegmatite.

North Arrow says the assays confirm that spodumene mineralization is consistent over the southern two-thirds of the pegmatite, commonly occurring as abundant, large crystals tens of centimeters in size.

Highlights from the channel sampling include:

• Four meters averaging 1.81% lithium oxide in channel MS1-1 (Moose 1).

• Two meters averaging 1.75% lithium oxide in MS1-6 (Moose 1).

• Three meters averaging 1.86% lithium oxide in MS1-7 (Moose 1).

• One meter averaging 2.38% lithium oxide in MS1-9 (Moose 1).

• Four meters averaging 0.84% lithium oxide in MS2-1 (Moose 2).

• Two meters averaging 1.1% lithium oxide in MS3-1 (Moose 3).

• One meter averaging 0.25% lithium oxide in MS4-1 (Moose 4).

"Systematic channel sampling of the Moose 1 pegmatite has confirmed extensive zones of spodumene mineralization," added Armstrong. "Zonation within Moose 1 is very similar in character to the Moose 2 pegmatite, where spodumene mineralization has also been extended southwards into an area that had been previously mapped as unmineralized."

Two new channel samples were collected from the southern extent of the Moose 2 pegmatite, including channel MS2-1, in an area where spodumene mineralization had not been previously noted. With the new results, mineralization has now been traced at surface over a 275-meter strike extent of the Moose 2 pegmatite, which is located approximately 1,200 meters to the east of Moose 1.

Sampling of the new Moose 3 and Moose 4 pegmatites was limited by available bedrock exposures; however, collected samples returned elevated lithium values, particularly at Moose 3, where spodumene crystals in excess of 30 centimeters were noted during mapping and the high returns of channel MS3-1.

Although the company says the size and orientation of Moose 3 and Moose 4 remain uncertain, the pegmatite exposures have been traced over 75 meters and 30 meters, respectively.

Three small channels from Moose 4 returned anomalous values up to 0.25% lithium oxide (MS4-1) as well as 176 to 562 parts per million tantalum pentoxides.

"We now look forward to receiving results of mineral characterization samples from Moose 1 and Moose 2 that are currently being processed, and North Arrow is also making plans to move forward with a drilling program to test the depth extent and along strike continuity of spodumene mineralization in the Moose 1, 2 and 3 pegmatites," finished Armstrong.