Battery Mineral Resources McAra Resource - Metallurgical Sample Assays Yield High Grade Cobalt

Vancouver, British Columbia – (May 10th, 2021) – Battery Mineral Resources Corp. (TSXV: BMR) ("Battery" or "BMR" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update of bedrock stripping and metallurgical sampling of the high-grade cobalt -silver breccia vein material that form the McAra mineral resource (Measured & Indicated 1.1 million pounds grading 1.47% cobalt and 10.28 g/t silver – Battery Mineral Resources Announces Maiden Cobalt Resource, April 22nd, 2021 Press Release).

 

Highlights

 

 

Table 1: Assay analyses of the four McAra metallurgical test work samples

 

 

About The Mcara Stripping And Metallurgical Testwork Program

From 2017 to 2019, BMR completed 56 holes for 10,480 meters to define a NI 43-101 compliant resource and to explore the immediate area for additional cobalt-silver veins.

 

As part of work program, mechanical stripping of the historic showing was completed by Canadian Exploration Services Limited (Photo 1). BMR completed detailed structural mapping of the exposure that was used in the compilation of a 3D structural/geological model of the McAra mineral resource.

 

A 202kg sample of breccia vein mineralized material, containing very little barren host rock, was collected and sent to Dundee Sustainable Technologies for assay and a preliminary metallurgical assessment (Photo 2). An outline of the work undertaken by DST is summarized here.

 

The sample was crushed and separated into 10kg lots, from these lots, four 100 gram ("g") samples were taken and analyzed. The samples were assayed for gold and silver by fire assay, while the cobalt, arsenic, iron and nickel were assayed by acid digestion followed by ICP (inductively coupled plasma) mass spectrometry analysis. Sample Preparation was as follows:

 

 

DST conducted pyrolysis tests on the Cobalt Zone - McAra material to remove the arsenic content by using a laboratory tube furnace with starting conditions: SO2 neutral, 900°C, 180 minutes. DST concluded that the McAra high grade material could be treated as cobalt concentrate and that pyrolysis could remove 99% of the arsenic, with no cobalt loss and a 20% mass loss to generate a calcine product containing about 10% cobalt, <0.5% arsenic and 6% S2-.

 

Battery CEO Martin Kostuik states; "We are encouraged that the assays produced from the preliminary metallurgical sample have confirmed the high-grade cobalt- silver mineralization hosted within McAra mineral resource.  Further, the tests concluded that standard techniques to remove arsenic were 99% successful- which is an important factor in determining the potential commercial viability of the cobalt bearing material from this deposit. We are looking forward continuing our cobalt drilling program, not only at McAra but throughout our significant land holdings in the greater cobalt embayment."

 

Background

 

The McAra mineral resource is located 100 kilometers ("km") northeast of Sudbury, Ontario and about 30 km southeast of the town of Shining Tree (Figure 1). The McAra deposit is situated in a 65 square km Archean inlier within the Huronian Basin that is referred to as the Cobalt Embayment. Archean basement in the area was deposited in an extensional volcanic arc-back, arc setting and then later deformed during an arc inversion resulting in tight folding and steeply dipping rocks. The Huronian Basin overlies Archean rocks and comprises Paleoproterozoic sediments with an estimated thickness in the Cobalt area of 6km.

 

Early exploration in the region began in the 1910s and targeted narrow high-grade silver-cobalt veins like those found in the Gowganda and Cobalt mining camps. No significant silver deposits discovered in the McAra area, but several copper-zinc occurrences were found in the Archean rocks, which prompted exploration for VMS style base-metal mineralization in the area.

 

Two gossanous zones were discovered near McAra Lake in 1996 by a local prospector which renewed interest in the area. Several companies completed worked on the property including airborne and ground-based geophysical surveys followed by selective drill testing that eventually led to the discovery of the high-grade cobalt-silver vein in 2004.

 

Figure 1: BMR Land Holdings - McAra Location Map

 

 

Photo 1: McAra breccia vein(Yellow) and bedrock exposure with oxidized polymetallic exhalative in foreground – view looking west

 

 

Photo 2: High grade cobalt breccia-vein from the McAra Trench (20cm long by 18cm wide)

 

Quality Control

 

Sample preparation, analysis and security procedures applied on the BMR exploration projects is aligned with industry best practice. BMR has implemented protocols and procedures to insure high quality collection and management of samples resulting in reliable exploration assay data.

 

Sample preparation was performed by Dundee Sustainable Technologies in Thetford Mines, Quebec. DST analytical facilities are commercial laboratories and are independent from BMR equipped to perform crushing and grinding, comminution, hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical test-work services at an industrial scale. All BMR samples were bagged and packed into pails by BMR staff and delivered to DST's technical facility in Thetford Mines, where the material was crushed, ground, homogenized and packaged into 10kg lots then stored in a freezer to preserve sulphide integrity.  DST's mineral processing circuit comprises a jaw crusher, hammer mill and a ball mill allowing for the sample to be ground to a P80 of 75 µm, which is the target grind size for the laboratory test-work. 100g samples were taken from 4 distinct 10kg lots and used for analysis.

 

Samples were assayed for gold and silver by fire assay, while cobalt, arsenic, iron and nickel were assayed by acid digestion followed by ICP (inductively coupled plasma) mass spectrometry and sulfur was assayed using a LECO instrument.

 

Qualified Persons

 

P. J. Doyle, FAusIMM (#208850), Battery Mineral Resources Corp. - Vice President Exploration - Canada, supervised the preparation of and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release pertaining to the Canada Exploration Program.

 

Technical reports filed by the Company under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com: "Technical Report on Cobalt Exploration Assets in Canada" dated as of May 26, 2020 with an effective date of March 31, 2020, prepared by SRK Consulting – G Cole PGeo (APGO#1416).

 

About Battery Mineral Resources Corp.

 

Battery is a multi-commodity resource company. Battery is engaged in the discovery, acquisition, and development of battery metals (cobalt, lithium, graphite, nickel & copper), in North America and South Korea. Battery is the largest mineral claim holder in the historic Gowganda Cobalt-Silver Camp, Canada, with various high-grade primary cobalt silver-nickel-copper targets located in the Cobalt Belt of Ontario and Quebec. In addition, Battery owns approximately 89% of ESI Energy Services, Inc., a pipeline equipment rental and sales company with operations in Leduc, Alberta and Phoenix, Arizona. Finally, Battery is currently pursuing a concurrent financing and acquisition to acquire the Punitaqui Mining Complex, a copper-gold mine located in the Coquimbo region of Chile.

 

For further information, please contact Battery Mineral Resources Corp.:

 

Martin Kostuik

Phone: +1 (604) 229 3830

Email: info@bmrcorp.com