92 Resources finds lithium pegmatites at Corvette

Four new spodumene-bearing pegmatites have been unearthed by 92 Resources (TSXV: NTY; US-OTC: RGDCF) on its 100% owned Corvette lithium property in the James Bay region of Quebec. It has divided them into two zones called CV3 and CV4.

During its 10-day, mid-year exploration program this year, 92 resources discovered the pegmatite. CV3 is 20 metres long and 3 metres wide, and located 250 metres south of CV1. CV4 contains three spodumene-bearing outcrops across 140 metres, and is located 3 km northeast of CV1. All the pegmatites occur along the same trend.

The company took grab samples from CV3 and CV4 grading 1.61% lithium oxide and 0.74% lithium oxide.

The news comes shortly after the company staked another 96 claims contiguous south and east of the original property. The extra claims total 49.18 sq. km and raise 92’s land package to 172 claims totalling 88 square kilometres.

It also signed an option in early September to earn up to 75% of 28 adjacent Osisko Mining (TSX: OSK; US-OTC: OBNNF) claims that form the eastern part of Osisko’s FCI property. The Osisko claims add up to 7 km of prospective strike along the pegmatite-bearing trend, raising the total length under 92’s control to 15 kilometres.

To earn a 50% interest, 92 will issue Osisko 2 million shares and spend $2.25 million in exploration over three years: $250,000 by the end of the first year, $800,000 by the end of the second and $1.2 million by the end of the third. At that point the companies would form a fifty-fifty joint venture. The company would earn its final 25% interest by spending another $2 million on exploration.

Osisko’s adjacent FCI claims are under option by 92 Resources. Credit: 92 Resources.

“The overall trend from Corvette was continuous onto Osisko’s FCI property, and because of that it was imperative that we were able to secure that ground,” 92 Resources president and CEO Adrian Lamoureux says in an interview with The Northern Miner. “We’re quite confident with that trend that we’ll find similar results on FCI to what we found on Corvette.”

It also took channel samples to further define its CV1 and CV2 pegmatites, discovered in 2017.

The company focused on CV1, where it took 40 samples from five channels averaging 1.35% lithium oxide, but grading as high as 3.85% lithium oxide.  Highlights from CV1 include 1.54% lithium oxide over 8 metres and 2.28% lithium oxide over 6 metres.

The company extended the strike length of CV1 to at least 175 metres. The east end runs into a shallow lake, although the company says the pegmatite may continue beneath it.

The company also recovered tantalum at CV1 and CV2, averaging 109 parts per million tantalum oxide and 138 parts per million tantalum oxide.

Assays from CV2 returned slightly lower grades than CV1. The company took eight samples from two channels at CV2, located 50 metres north of CV1. Highlights include 0.73% lithium oxide over 4 metres and 0.55% lithium oxide over 4 metres.

The company acquired Corvette in 2017, along with two other lithium hard rock properties in Quebec: Eastmain and Lac du Béryl. At the time it was focused on developing its Hidden Lake lithium project in the Northwest Territories.

“Our whole business model is always looking for prospective ground and new projects, in tandem with developing them,” Lamoureux says. “We were looking to diversify additional hard rock lithium assets.

“Corvette was completely grassroots, but the geology looked great. It seemed like something worth exploring.”

In October of that year it sent its team on a one-day reconnaissance trip. It ended up sampling 3.48% lithium oxide and 7.32% lithium oxide from what became CV1, as well as 1.22% lithium oxide from what became CV2.

The company shifted its focus to Corvette this year after optioning Hidden Lake to Far Resources (CSE: FAT; US-OTC: FRRSF) in January.

A spodumene bearing pegmatite outcrop at CV1 on Corvette. Credit: 92 Resources.

Far paid an initial $50,000 and 555,555 shares to 92. It earned a 60% interest in Hidden Lake by spending at least $500,000 during its early 2018 drill program. It can increase its interest to 90% by issuing the company $950,000 in shares, and spending another $1.8 million on exploration.

Highlights include 1.8% lithium oxide over 9 metres from 44 metres downhole and 2% lithium oxide over 5.2 metres from 44 metres downhole.

“The results came back exactly how we thought they would,” Lamoureux says. “We love the project, it’s a great project, but it’s one we were able to monetize, so we could put the focus to Quebec.”

Right now the company is trying to get permits to drill Corvette. 92 would like to spend $750,000 on a drill campaign at Corvette-FCI — money it still needs to raise. Lamoureux says the company would likely drill both Corvette and FCI with a single drill program that would earn 92 its first stage of interest. He says the company has already identified several topographical features for follow-up work.

Shares of 92 Resources are trading at 5¢ with a 52-week range of 4¢ to 26¢. The company has a $4-million market capitalization.

“We really were in love with our Corvette project, initially,” Lamoureux says. “We like the size of it and we like the opportunity to work in that jurisdiction. We want to really put a lot of our eggs into this basket and develop this project ourselves.”