Grid Metals to drill Falcon West Lithium Project, Manitoba
Grid Metals Corp. [TSXV-GRDM; OTCQB-MSMGF] has received exploration permits and will immediately commence exploration drilling at its Falcon West Lithium Property, which is located approximately 110 km east of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and 100 km south of the company’s Donner Lake lithium property. The initial target area hosts high-grade lithium and cesium mineralization in historical drill core. Approximately 2,000 metres of drilling are planned in the initial phase of the program.
Falcon West is a belt scale (61,268 hectares and ~90 km of strike length) lithium and rare metal property. It is located in the West Hawk Lake Greenstone Belt and hosted in mafic volcanics rocks present at the contact between the Wabigoon and Winnipeg River geological sub provinces. The West Hawk Lake Greenstone Belt is the next prospective greenstone belt to the south of the Bird River Greenstone Belt that hosts the world class large Tanco Pegmatite – one of the most evolved pegmatite known globally which hosts the producing Tanco Lithium and Rare Metals Mine. As of 1983, Tanco had spodumene reserves of 7,300,00 tons grading 2.76% Li2O.
The drill program will commence at the Artdon-Lucy (ADL) target area of the property, at which several historical drill programs intersected near surface pegmatites locally containing high lithium grades that are associated with spodumene. Historical drill highlights include 12 m at 2.2% Li2O and 12m at 1.8% Li2O.
The ADL target area is approximately 110 km from Winnipeg and is transected by the Trans-Canada Highway and a major rail line giving the property direct access to critical infrastructure.
The initial drill program will comprise approximately 2,000 metres. The program will attempt to establish the orientation and continuity of several known lithium spodumene bearing pegmatites and, increase the overall understanding of the pegmatite emplacement, fractionation and zonation trends. The ADL area being explored is approximately 1 km area in strike length.
ADL Target Area: Spodumene-bearing pegmatites assaying up to 3.51% Li2O over 4.57 metres within a 12.2-metre section assaying 2.16% Li2O are noted in historical drill hole records from the Lucy (eastern) Pegmatite part of the area.
Most of the historical lithium-enriched pegmatite drill intersections are within a few metres to tens of metres from surface with two pegmatites (Lucy and Artdon) outcropping at surface.
A non-compliant, historical resource of 226,800 tonnes of 1.75 % Li2O was estimated on a portion of the Lucy Pegmatite which is part of the property.
The Lucy Pegmatite has been described as being mineralogically and geochemically zoned, flat lying, extremely fractionated and broadly similar to the world class Tanco Pegmatite.
Validation outcrop sampling of the Artdon pegmatite, located ~1 km along strike from the Lucy pegmatite, was completed by Grid in 2023 and returned individual grab sample grades of up to 2.97% Li2O.
Analysis of previously unassayed drill core from a 2012 drill program at the Lucy Pegmatite returned several intersections of high-grade lithium and cesium.
To the company’s knowledge, there has been no historical lithium exploration work on the property outside the immediate ADL target area.
Grid Metals controls 100% of the mineral rights for the property with a 2% NSR royalty held by the vendors of the ADL target area claims but with no NSR royalty on the majority of the Falcon West claims.
The property is located approximately 110 km west of Winnipeg and 100 km south of Grid’s Donner Lake lithium project and features excellent infrastructure including the Trans-Canada Highway, major trans-continental rail lines and hydro-electric power lines.
Grid Metals is focused on its lithium properties in southeastern Manitoba (Donner Lake and Falcon West). The company has a lease agreement for the True North Gold Mill with the intention to convert the processing circuit to produce lithium spodumene concentrate and fast track its Donner Lake Lithium Project into production. The company also has a PEA stage Ni-Cu-PGM-Co project (Makwa-Mayville) in southeastern Manitoba.