Patriot Battery Metals drills 1.78% Li2O over 127.7 metres at Corvette, Quebec
Patriot Battery Metals Inc. [PMET-TSXV; PMT-ASX; PMETF-OTCQX; R9GA-FSE] reported core assays for the next series of drill holes completed as part of the 2023 winter drill program, which recently concluded at its wholly owned Corvette property, located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec. The winter phase of the 2023 drill campaign was focused on the CV5 pegmatite, located approximately 13.5 km south of the regional and all-weather Trans-Taiga Road and power line infrastructure.
Blair Way, president and CEO, commented: “The final assay results for the recently completed winter drill hole program continue to come in, with 12 holes now remaining to be reported. Results continue to impress as we position for the release of our initial mineral resource estimate at CV5.”
Core assays, for the drill holes reported herein, cover the CV5 Pegmatite’s recently defined eastward extension, the high-grade Nova Zone and the recently defined westward extension.
Drill hole CV23-148 targeted the Nova Zone and returned a wide and high-grade intercept of 95.3 metres at 1.62% Li2O, including 47.6 metres at 2.09% Li2O or 4.1 metres at 4.44% Li2O. The high-grade result affirms the interpretation that the Nova Zone extends continuously over a strike length of at least 1.1 km – from drill holes CV23-132 to 108. Strong grades and widths were returned in drilling over the recently defined westward extension, highlighted by drill hole CV23-160A, which returned 127.7 metres at 1.78% Li2O, including 50.1 metres at 2.43% Li2O. Other drill holes in this area, with assays reported herein, include CV23-172 (13.2 metres at 1.14% Li2O, and 15.7 metres at 0.94% Li2O), CV23-182 (14.8 metres at 1.06% Li2O), and CV23-187 (14.1 metres at 1.19% Li2O). Additionally, drill hole CV23-174, located proximal to the westward extension, returned a strong intercept of 44.2 metres at 0.99% Li2O, including 15.3 metres at 2.58% Li2O.
Drill core sample assays for two holes remain to be reported over the westward extension area of the CV5 Pegmatite. This includes a continuous 93-metre interval of dominantly spodumene-bearing pegmatite in the most westerly drill hole completed through the end of the winter program (CV23-184), and a continuous 139-metre interval of dominantly spodumene-bearing pegmatite in the final drill hole of the 2023 winter program (CV23-190).
Assay results for holes reported herein over the far eastern portion of CV5, as is currently defined, returned variable grades and widths of lithium mineralized pegmatite. Results include 51.2 metres at 0.59% Li2O, including 10.1 metres at 0.87% Li2O and 9.3 metres at 0.91% Li2O (CV23-154), and 27.5 metres at 0.40% Li2O, including 3.2 metres at 2.22% Li2O (CV23-156). Internal fractionation commonly leads to lower-grade pegmatite being immediately adjacent to higher-grade pegmatite. Considering the wide and continuous widths of pegmatite in these holes (CV23-154 and 156), at 49.9 metres and 27.5 metres, respectively, the grades returned are very encouraging with respect to the potential for additional and proximal higher-grade zones to be present. The pegmatite in this area remains open up-dip, down-dip, and along strike eastwardly.
Through the 2023 winter drill program, the CV5 Pegmatite has been traced continuously by drilling (at approximately 50 to 150-metre spacing) as a principally continuous spodumene-mineralized body over a lateral distance of at least 3.7 km and remains open along strike at both ends and to depth along most of its length.
The company remains on target for a July 2023 announcement for the initial mineral resource estimate at CV5, which will include all drill holes completed through April 17, 2023 (i.e., the recently completed winter drill program). The timing of the announcement remains dependent on timely receipt of the final outstanding core sample assays from the laboratory, as well as final database and model validation.
The CV Lithium Trend is an emerging spodumene pegmatite district discovered by the Company in 2017 and spans more than 25-km across the Corvette Property. The core area includes an approximate 3.7 km long spodumene pegmatite (the ‘CV5 Pegmatite’) and multiple proximal secondary spodumene pegmatite lenses.
To date, six distinct clusters of lithium pegmatite have been discovered across the Corvette Property – CV5 Pegmatite and associated lenses, CV4, CV8-12, CV9, CV10, and CV13.
Patriot Battery Metals is a hard-rock lithium exploration company focused on advancing its district-scale 100%-owned Corvette property. The Corvette Property is one of the largest and highest-grade hard rock lithium projects being explored, with over 50 km of strike length over a 214 km2 land package and over 70 lithium bearing pegmatite outcrops identified to date.
The Corvette property is situated proximal to the all-weather Trans Taiga Road and Hydro-Quebec power line infrastructure in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec.