Patriot Battery Metals drills 1.66% Li2O over 126.3 metres at Corvette, Quebec
Patriot Battery Metals Inc. [TSX-PMET; OTCQX-PMETF; FSE-R9GA] reported core assay results for drill holes completed in 2024 at the CV5 spodumene pegmatite. The Corvette property, wholly owned by the company, is located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec.
The CV5 spodumene pegmatite, with a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 109.2 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.42% Li2O (lithium oxide) inferred, is situated approximately 13.5 km south of the regional and all-weather Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure.
Darren L. Smith, vice-president of exploration for the company, comments: “The 2024 resource infill drilling at CV5 advanced very well over the recently completed winter program, with the first batch of assays producing some stellar results. The team has done a phenomenal job, and all remaining core samples are now at the lab for processing. We are now focused on refining the pegmatite geological model and domaining through integration of the core assay data as it comes in.
“The company remains on schedule for a Q3 2024 update to the June, 2023, maiden mineral resource estimate, which will include both the CV5 and CV13 spodumene pegmatites,” added Smith.
Drill results for 34 drill holes, completed during the recently completed 2024 winter drill program at the CV5 spodumene pegmatite, are reported herein.
Highlights include 126.3 metres at 1.66% Li2O, including 54.9 m at 2.50% Li2O (CV24-374); 100.8 m at 1.97% Li2O, including 69.8 m at 2.52% Li2O (CV24-392); 90.2 m at 1.29% Li2O and 48.5 m at 1. 25% Li2O (CV24-377); 94.9 m at 1.10% Li2O, including 26.1 m at 2.16% Li2O (CV24-378); and 70.1 m at 2.44% Li2O, including 46.9 m at 3.53% Li2O or 16.1 m at 5.02% Li2O (CV24-401A).
The 2024 winter drill program at CV5 focused on resource infill and covered approximately 3.9 km of the total 4.6 km pegmatite strike length defined to date. The primary objective of the infill drilling is to improve the confidence of the geological model at CV5 to support an upgrade of mineral resources from the inferred category to the indicated category. This includes the delineation of a coherent body of indicated mineral resources to support advanced development and pending economic studies at CV5.
The drill hole results announced herein continue to demonstrate strong grades and continuity of spodumene pegmatite at CV5. In particular, drill hole CV24-374 returned a significantly wider interval of pegmatite than initially modelled based on the June, 2023, MRE – 126.3 m (at 1.66% Li2O) intercept versus an expected 86 m intercept, as predicted by the June, 2023, MRE’s geological model. This additional metreage was also returned from outside of the conceptual pit constraint used in the June 2023, MRE and indicates an area of potential resource growth along strike at this depth in this area.
Additionally, at the far east end of the high-grade Nova zone, situated between and at a similar depth to drill holes CV23-107 (37.1 m at 2.09% Li2O, including three m at 5.43% Li2O) and CV23-108 (26.6 m at 2.44% Li2O, including five m at 4.30% Li2O), hole CV24-401A returned a significantly wider, higher-grade intercept than expected – 46.9 m at 3.53% Li2O, including 16.1 m at 5.02% Li2O within a wider high-grade zone of 70.1 m at 2.44% Li2O.
The 2024 winter drill program, which concluded in mid-April at the property, totalled 62,518 m (166 holes) – 50,961 m (121 holes) at CV5, and 11,557 m (45 holes) at CV13, of which 46,933 m (132 holes) remain to be reported. The infill drill program at CV5 is scheduled to resume in early summer and continue into the fall of this year.
An updated MRE for the Corvette project, incorporating drilling through April 2024, is scheduled for Q3 2024. This MRE update will include both the CV5 and CV13 spodumene pegmatites, and a total anticipated metreage of 134,129 m (369 holes) and 29,121 m (133 holes), respectively.
Collectively, through April, 2024, drilling has traced the CV5 spodumene pegmatite over a strike length of 4.6 km, which remains open along strike at both ends and to depth over a significant portion of its length.
The CV lithium trend is an emerging spodumene pegmatite district discovered by the company in 2017 and is interpreted to span more than 50 km across the Corvette property. The core area includes the approximate 4.6 km long CV5 spodumene pegmatite, which hosts a maiden mineral resource estimate of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O inferred.
To date, eight distinct clusters of lithium pegmatite have been discovered across the Corvette property – CV4, CV5, CV8, CV9, CV10, CV12, CV13 and the recently discovered CV14. Given the proximity of some pegmatite outcrops to each other, as well as the shallow till cover in the area, it is probable that some of the outcrops may reflect a discontinuous surface exposure of a single, larger pegmatite outcrop subsurface.
Patriot Battery is a hardrock lithium exploration company focused on advancing its district-scale 100%-owned Corvette property located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, Canada, and proximal to regional road and power line infrastructure.
The Corvette property hosts multiple other spodumene pegmatite clusters that remain to be drill tested, as well as more than 20 km of prospective trend that remains to be assessed.