Two years ago, New Age Metals (TSXV: NAM; US-OTC: NMTLF) became one of the largest claim holders in the Winnipeg River pegmatite field of southeastern Manitoba, 125 km northeast of Winnipeg.
Through staking and acquisitions, the junior acquired 60 sq. km and five hard-rock lithium projects that contain spodumene-bearing pegmatites next to lithium-cesium-tantalum Tanco pegmatite, which has been mined since 1969.
New Age Metals recently reported lithium assays from surface sampling at its Eagle pegmatite, part of the junior’s Lithium Two project, 22 km north of the Tanco mine. Sampling returned assays with values ranging from 1% Li2O up to 3.8% Li2O, and the work also extended the Eagle pegmatite 300 metres west.
Geological consultant Greg Ashcroft at New Age Metals’ Lithium Two lithium property in Manitoba. Credit: New Age Metals.
Last drilled in 1947, Eagle is open at depth. It also has a historic resource estimate of 544,460 tonnes grading 1.4% Li2O to 61 metres’ depth.
“We’re the first guys back on the project in many, many years,” Harry Barr, the company’s chairman and CEO, tells The Northern Miner. “We’re just trying to redefine an old deposit and see if it has extensions at depth and on strike.”
The company has applied for drill permits for Eagle and the second pegmatite at its Lithium Two project, called FD5, which lies east of Eagle and has never been drilled. A sample of spodumene from FD5 in the most recent lab results returned 7.62% Li2O.
Both the Eagle and FD5 pegmatites come to surface.
“We’ve done more work on FD5 and think it’s probably part of a pegmatite swarm,” says Carey Galeschuk, a geologist working with the company. “We knew it had spodumene and now we’ve got surface numbers, so it’s better defined … drilling hopes to show whether these pegmatites come together at depth or are singular bodies, but they are close enough together that it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Galeschuk spent 12 years as an exploration geologist at the Tanco mine working for Tantalum Mining Corp. (owned by Cabot Corp.), and lives 100 km from the mine site.
The Tanco underground mine produced spodumene concentrate between 1986 and 2009. Spodumene, a lithium-bearing mineral found in pegmatite dikes, can be used as a feedstock for producing lithium carbonate and metal, or directly in its mineral form, in the glass and ceramic industries.
Much of the spodumene concentrate from the Tanco mine was sold to manufacturers in the U.S., which used it to make glass-ceramic cookware known as VisionWare and CorningWare.
The mine also produced tantalum concentrate in varying capacities from 1969 until 2009.
Field equipment at New Age Metals’ Lithium Two project. Credit: New Age Metals.
Today, Tanco extracts cesium from pollucite, which it uses to make cesium formate, a drilling fluid used in the petroleum industry.
While lithium is New Age Metals’ main exploration focus at its Lithium Two project, the company points out that its pegmatites also show elevated tantalum values, which “may be of an economic interest.”
Over at its Lithium One project, 8.5 km southeast of the Tanco mine, the company has found at least 40 surface pegmatites of various dimensions and compositions, many of them lithium bearing.
The Silverleaf pegmatite, for example, is a zoned, complex, lithium-bearing pegmatite with a surface exposure of 80 by 45 metres. Samples taken from Silverleaf’s Lepidolite-Spodumene zone have returned assays from 1.30% to 2.43% Li2O.
The zone is 50 by 20 metres and extends into a historic, excavated open pit, which dates to the 1920s, when a bulk sample of spodumene was mined from the southwest side of the pegmatite. A sample from the historically mined spodumene rock pile returned values of up to 4.3% Li2O.
Small green spodumene blades in pegmatites at New Age Metals’ Lithium Two lithium project. Credit: New Age Metals.
Small green spodumene blades in pegmatites at New Age Metals’ Lithium Two lithium project. Credit: New Age Metals.
New Age Metals’ other assets near the Tanco mine are the Lithman East, Lithman North and Lithman West projects.
Lithman East and West are next to the Tanco mine leases (Lithman West used to be part of the Tanco claims), while Lithman North is 15 km northeast of the mine leases.
There are no exposed pegmatites on Lithium West, but there are a number of geochemical targets for pegmatites, while Lithman East and North have numerous pegmatites that have yet to be fully evaluated.
Pegmatites are felsic systems, and like granite, can contain feldspar, quartz and mica.
The Tanco pegmatite belongs to the Bernic Lake pegmatite group, part of the Cat Lake-Winnipeg River pegmatite district. The district lies in the Bird River greenstone belt, which is part of the Archean Superior Province.
In January, New Age Metals completed an option agreement on the five projects with Azincourt Energy (TSXV: AAZ), and since then has picked up another three projects for a total of eight.
Under the agreement, Azincourt can acquire a full interest in stages and has committed to spending $600,000 on exploration in Manitoba this year.
“We’re financed to drill this year, it’s just a question of whether we can get the drill rig out there before the end of the year, but we hope we can, and there’s no reason why we can’t drill there in the winter,” Barr says.
It’s an area that can be drilled at any time of the year, Galeschuk adds. “If we had drill permits now we could drill right away. It doesn’t require freeze-up. It’s a good location.”
The company expects to get the permits within a month, and says it could drill 1,500 metres before year-end.
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