Beyond Lithium discovers new spodumene zone at Ear Falls Project
Beyond Lithium Inc. has announced the discovery of a new spodumene-bearing pegmatite zone at its 206 sq. km Ear Falls Project in Northwest Ontario. Grab samples have assayed up to 4.54% Li2O and a minimum 3-km-long prospective trend has been identified. A highly fractionated sample located 2 km northeast of the spodumene pegmatite zone establishes a minimum of 3-km-long trend for spodumene bearing pegmatites exploration.
Upon making this new discovery, Beyond Lithium strategically expanded the Ear Falls Project from 3,375 ha to 20,623 ha (~600% expansion) in area (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Ear Falls Project Expanded Claims Map
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The Ear Falls Project, previously referred to as the Wenasaga Property, is located right outside the town of Ear Falls, 70 km south of Red Lake and 145 km north of Dryden in Northwest Ontario. Ear Falls has excellent infrastructure including highway and logging road access, power lines, services, and local labour.
Mr. Lawrence Tsang, VP Exploration for Beyond Lithium, commented, "This spodumene discovery is significant as it occurs within a 13-km-long metasedimentary-granite structural corridor where there's opportunity for more discoveries as we ramp up exploration. We are targeting subparallel spodumene pegmatite dykes along the main metasedimentary-batholith structure and the major regional fault. Exploration on the eastern expansion of the project also provides an opportunity to search for a potentially identical geological system."
Mr. Tsang added that, "Exploration at the Ear Falls Project is ongoing, and we have already submitted an exploration plan with Ontario's Ministry of Mines to carry out a stripping and a drilling program to further delineate the spodumene pegmatites zone. The stripping and drilling program is targeted to commence in October."
Figure 2. Overview Exploration Trend at the Ear Falls Project Showing the 3 km trend of Spodumene/Beryl Zone (black arrow) and a 13 km long Metasedimentary-Granite Structural Corridor (red polygon outline) and a Potential Subparallel Structure (blue polygon outline)
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Allan Frame, President & CEO, commented that, "This exciting news supports that new discoveries are possible outside of the remote regions of northern Quebec and Ontario. With just three months into our 2023 exploration program trying to cover all 64 projects with over 150,000 ha in area, Beyond Lithium has made two major discoveries in Ontario: the Allen Graeme pluton at Cosgrave and this new high grade spodumene bearing pegmatites zone at the Ear Falls Project. This early success shows the effectiveness of our exploration program. Many assay results remain to be received and announced and we are confident in delivering additional positive results before the end of the year."
Mr. Frame added, "In a recent news release I mentioned that it is important for our shareholders to keep in mind that while we are as anxious as they are to share all assay results as they come in, it is sometimes a better course of action to first consolidate our land position either through staking, optioning or both in certain districts. I am proud to report that this approach has allowed us to acquire 17,233 additional hectares around the discovery announced today at an average cash cost of $7.98 per hectare and the issuance of only 300,000 shares."
The finding of the spodumene pegmatites zone by Beyond Lithium at the Ear Falls project is a brand-new discovery in this region. Beyond Lithium recognized the potential of this area and was able to stake most of the prospective open grounds around the original claims and consolidated additional claims from a few prospectors to assemble a contiguous project of 20,623 ha in area.
The expansion has delineated two high priority areas for exploration associated with the labels in Figure 3 below:
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Explore along the main metasedimentary-batholith structure and the major regional fault and look for subparallel spodumene pegmatite dykes.
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Explore for additional prospective structure along the newly mapped metasedimentary-batholith in the northwest and look for additional spodumene pegmatite dykes.
Figure 3. Overview of the High Priority Areas for Exploration at the Ear Falls Project
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Background of the spodumene discovery
The Phase 1 exploration program at the Ear Falls Project was completed in June. We have since updated the geology of the project and more significantly located the batholith-metasedimentary contact within the project as this contact is probably the preferential structure for LCT pegmatites (Figure 4). After discovering the spodumene pegmatites zone, Beyond Lithium's field team further explored along this metasedimentary-batholith contact and was able to locate three new beryl bearing pegmatites (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Phase 1 Mapping of the Ear Falls Project with the Spodumene Pegmatites Zone and the 3 New Beryl Pegmatites Discovered Along the Metasedimentary and the Granite Contact
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Subparallel spodumene bearing pegmatites along a minimum of 1 km strike length were discovered along the main logging road of the Ear Falls Project up to 6 meters wide in exposed outcrops (Figure 6). The spodumene pegmatites are hosted in both granite and metasediment trending generally at 40 to 60 degrees following the regional foliation with local variabilities. These spodumene pegmatites are covered by a thin layer of vegetation. A follow-up stripping program has been planned to include the removal of the overburden to further outline the true thickness and the density of these spodumene pegmatites.
Sampling and assay results
A total of 205 individual pegmatite outcrops have now been mapped along the main structural corridor to date illustrated as blue dots in Figure 8 and we have collected 68 samples at the project. So far, 48 of the samples have received assays. From the 48 assays, four samples were taken from the spodumene pegmatites zone with Li2O ranging from 0.76% to 4.54% and cesium ranging from 32.83 ppm to 68.97 ppm (Table 1). More samplings including channel sampling are planned on the beryl and the spodumene pegmatites by the end of September to early October to further outline the lithium bearing zone.
Figure 5. Spodumene Crystals in Pegmatite
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