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The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - March 15, 2024
Narryer Metals holds a portfolio of Canadian lithium projects in Quebec, Ontario, and Northwest Territories.
Narryer Metals Ltd. March 12 announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 70% interest in the Big Hill and Fran lithium-tantalum projects in Yellowknife Pegmatite Province in Canada's Northwest Territories.
"Canada will be the first part of the supply chain for future lithium battery development in North America, and Narryer Metals sees the future of hard rock lithium exploration in the Archaean cratons of northern Canada," said Narryer Metals Managing Director Gavin England.
Extending roughly 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of the Northwest Territories capital city, the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province has become a popular location to explore for the lithium needed for electric vehicle batteries.
The lithium exploration in this region is being led by Li-FT Power Ltd., which holds 11 properties covering some 41,572 hectares (349,832 acres) within the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province.
The Big Hill and Fran projects being acquired by Narryer cover multiple outcropping pegmatites about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Yellowknife.
The Australia-based mineral explorer says the Big Hill project shows potential for significant lithium mineralization, with newly discovered pegmatites containing the lithium mineral spodumene.
"The Big Hill project area contains spodumene-bearing pegmatites identified along strike from mineralization currently being drilled by Canadian-listed Li-FT Power at its BIG Lithium project," said England
A first-pass exploration program completed at Big Hill in 2023 discovered a 12-meter-wide lithium-bearing pegmatite just north of the Li-FT's BIG property boundary.
Channel sampling across this pegmatite returned grades as high as 1.16% lithium oxide (Li2O) over five meters, including 2.57% Li2O over one meter.
Another lithium-bearing dyke was discovered with spodumene (lithium mineral) content of 3-5%.
The Fran project, which lies about 10 kilometers (six miles) north of Big Hill, is prospective for lithium, tantalum, niobium, beryllium, and rare earths.
The roughly 13-meter-wide Riber outcrop at Fran was historically explored for its beryllium content, but several other critical minerals were also identified.
Tantalum-focused exploration in 1999 returned assays with up to 0.57% tantalum pentoxide, 0.53% niobium pentoxide, 0.09% rubidium, and 0.02% cesium.
A reconnaissance field program in 2023 identified 40 pegmatites and 101 granites at Fran.
Narryer says it will further investigate tantalum potential on this property, given the high value of this critical mineral.
Narryer entered into a binding agreement to acquire 70% interest in the Big Hill and Fran projects from Highway Lithium Ltd. This deal includes three phases – exclusivity period, acquisition, and deferred consideration.
For exclusive rights to the properties, Narryer has agreed to pay Highway A$50,000 (US$32,875) in cash, 2.5 million Narryer shares, and options for another 2.5 million shares.
In consideration of the 70% acquisition, Narryer has agreed to pay Highway an additional A$50,000 (US$32,875) in cash and 12.5 million Narryer shares. Highway will also retain a 1.5 net smelter return (NSR) royalty on lithium and 2.5% NSR on all other minerals produced from the properties.
The deferred payments are based on exploration success. Narryer has agreed to issue Highway an additional 7.5 million shares if trenching or drilling returns at least five meters of 1% LiO2 or higher; 10 million shares if at least three holes return at least 10 meters of 1% LiO2 or higher; and 10 million shares upon the delineation of at least 5 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging at least 0.9% LiO2.
In connection with the agreement to acquire a 70% interest in Big Hill and Fran, Narryer has received binding commitments for an A$1 million (US$660,0000 financing that will involve the issuance of 26.25 million shares at A4 cents each.
Fieldwork and drilling programs planned for 2024 are pending necessary approvals.
"The Big Hill mineral claims have drill ready targets, which with our ongoing lithium exploration in Ontario and Quebec, will provide NYM with an exciting 2024 exploration season," England said.
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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