North Arrow Minerals Inc. reports that it has obtained a wholly owned interest in the DeStaffany lithium property.
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This property is known to be a part of the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province, Northwest Territories, as part of an initiative to influence North Arrow’s knowledge and expertise with lithium and other crucial metals in northern Canada while continuing the assessment of its portfolio of Canadian diamond properties.
Acquisition of the DeStaffany lithium project is part of a larger opportunity to take advantage of North Arrow’s deep exploration experience in the NWT and Nunavut, including past evaluation of lithium, tantalum, and rare earth element (REE) mineralization at a number of localities in both territories.
Ken Armstrong, President and CEO, North Arrow Minerals
Armstrong added, “In fact, the DeStaffany area was the subject of tantalum and nickel exploration work by a predecessor company to North Arrow from 1998 to 2002 and North Arrow’s Chairman, Gren Thomas, was responsible for the discovery of niobium, tantalum, and rare earth element mineralization in the nearby Blatchford Lake Complex in the 1970’s, home to the newly opened Nechalacho mine, Canada’s first producer of rare earth elements.”
The DeStaffany lithium property spans 1,843 and is situated on the north central shore of Great Slave Lake, around 18 km northeast of the Nechalacho mine and 115 km east of Yellowknife. The property hosts the Moose 1 and Moose 2 lithium-tantalum-niobium-bearing pegmatites.
Initially, the pegmatites were assessed in the 1940’s for niobium and tantalum but have never been known to be subject to a focused assessment of their lithium potential. New breakthroughs are made possible within the property, as stressed by the detection of extra pegmatites by a predecessor company to North Arrow. At that time, such pegmatites were not explained or assessed for their lithium potential.
The Moose 1 pegmatite has never been subjected to drilling but has traced more than a 370 m strike, averaging around 4.5 m to 6.0 m in width, with an utmost width of nearly 11 m.
Also, it hosts spodumene mineralization that returned 1.5% Li2O over 7.5 m from historic channel sampling in 2009. Extra historic surface samples have returned from background values to 4.1% Li2O.
The Moose 2 pegmatite has been mapped over a length of 450 m strike and is up to a width of 30 m. The pegmatite was mass sampled and test mined for its niobium and tantalum potential in the 1940s and 1950s, producing niobium, tantalum, and lithium concentrates.
However, it has never been assessed or drilled for its lithium potential. Spodumene mineralization is common across the pegmatite, having high lithium analyses ranging up to 2.73% Li2O returned from samples along a minimum of a 250 m strike length of the body.
The Moose pegmatites are situated within 1 km of Great Slave Lake, offering good year-round access to the property from both Hay River and Yellowknife on the south side of the lake. Further steps for the property will contain preparation for mapping, sampling, and prospecting fieldwork prior to initial drill testing of such mineralized spodumene pegmatites.
Acquisition Terms
North Arrow has got into an agreement with Panarc Resources Ltd. (“Panarc”) to obtain a 100% interest in the DeStaffany mineral claims by reimbursing staking costs of $18,000. 500,000 shares of North Arrow to Panarc will also be issued, subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Besides, Panarc will hold a 2% net smelter returns royalty on future mineral and metal production from the property. It is possible to purchase one-half of the royalty at all times for $2 million. Also, North Arrow and Panarc have accepted a strategic alliance to work collectively in determining and obtaining extra lithium projects in three territories of Canada.
North Arrow’s exploration programs are performed under the guidance of Kenneth Armstrong, P.Geo. He is the President and CEO of North Arrow and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Armstrong has studied and approved this press release’s technical contents.
Source: https://www.northarrowminerals.com/