FIN’s White Bear pegmatite discovery is shaping up to be as special as Australia’s World Cup win last night. Pic via Getty Images.
Howzat! Fin Resources catches 6.85pc rock chip at White Bear lithium discovery
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- Rock chip assays have returned up to 6.85% Li2O at the White Bear prospect
- 28 channel and 10 rock chip sample assays pending
- Drill testing of the target is being planned for Q1 2024
Special Report: Rock chip samples from Fin Resources’ Cancet West project have returned exceptionally high-grade lithium results of 6.85% and 6.50% Li2O from rock chip assays at the White Bear Lithium discovery at Cancet West.
The 79km2 Cancet West project in Quebec is in good company, with other ASX explorers in the region discovering significant lithium deposits of their own.
It sits ~45km from Winsome Resources (WR1:ASX) Cancet and 100km from Patriot Battery Metal’s (PMT:ASX) huge Corvette lithium deposits. And between FIN’s east and west tenements, there’s James Bay Minerals’ (ASX:JBY) highly prospective Aqua project.
High grades at White Bear
After first discovering the outcrop in early October, the two samples in question both showed high grades of Li2O and pathfinder elements with low potassium-to-rubidium (K/Rb) ratios and elevated caesium (C),
Low K/Rb ratios are important when analysing what’s in the ground, as the lower they are, the more likely the potential for highly fractionated lithium-bearing pegmatites.
The 138181 pegmatite sample at White Bear showed 6.5% Li2O with Cs of 293 parts per million (ppm) and a K/Rb ratio of 35.43%.
Sample 138182, the pegmatite assayed at 6.85% Li2O and 513.9ppm Cs and a K/Rb ratio of 26.09%.
FIN says the assay results and the field observations conducted by Mercator Geological Services confirm the significant potential for a highly lithium-fertile, fractionated, and evolved system at White Bear.
The pegmatite outcrops “appear to be continuous from the shoreline westward and inland to the furthest identified pegmatite outcrop about 290 metres inland” and may indicate that all of the identified occurrences are part of the same intrusive body.
A total of five insitu pegmatite outcrops have been mapped at the White Bear spodumene-bearing zone, which is now a sizeable ~290m x 65m and commonly hosting crystals of beryl, orange garnets and pockets of coarse quartz, in addition to green spodumene.
The explorer is also awaiting results from 28 channel samples and 10 rock chip samples collected during follow-up fieldwork at Cancet West which identified new pegmatite outcrops outside of White Bear.
“This is a great start for us at the exciting White Bear discovery and we are now eagerly awaiting the channel samples and further rock chip results as we busily work towards our winter drilling programme.” Tom Ridges told Stockhead.
FIN director Jason Bontempo says the high-grade lithium results with a low K/Rb pathfinder ratio confirm that White Bear is a very exciting new grassroots discovery.
“Both samples taken from White Bear returning extremely high-grade lithium results,” Bontempo says.
“The confirmation that we now have a high-grade, highly evolved and fractioned system at the new spodumene-rich White Bear discovery is significant and we are now working extremely hard towards drill testing this exciting target during Q1 2024.
“We look forward to reporting assays from the recently completed follow-up field work when received, and we will be eagerly awaiting these results.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Fin Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
