Pegmatites galore as Olympio begins exploration at new Cadillac project

OLY completes clearing and surface sampling of numerous pegmatite dykes
59 pegmatite samples collected
This is the first phase of a much larger program designed to generate drill targets for the 2024 field season

Olympio has already sampled numerous pegmatite dykes at Wells-Lacourcière, part of its newly acquired Cadillac lithium project in Quebec.

The Cadillac project is in the rapidly emerging Cadillac-Pontiac lithium camp, less than 100km from Canada’s only operating lithium mine in southwest Québec and ~50km west of Val-d’Or.

Val d’Or boasts similarities to regional mining centres in Australia with a history in resources exploration that dates back 100 years.

It is also home to prominent lithium players such as Sayona (ASX:SYA) with its hard rock Authier lithium project and more early stage advanced explorers like Burley Minerals (ASX:BUR) with its Chubb project, which recently returned up to 1.93% Li₂0.

Olympio Metals (ASX:OLY) acquired the 190km² Cadillac project in early August not only because of the outcropping spodumene-bearing pegmatites at surface, but for the drilling results reported by previous explorer, Vision Lithium.

First-pass drilling completed by Vision returned grades up to 3.14% with spodumene crystals observed in core.

This shows the project has potential for bulk tonnage spodumene mineralisation, OLY MD Sean Delaney says.

There are over 100 pegmatite dykes that have been identified in the field to date, and hundreds more pegmatites have been interpreted from a detailed LiDAR elevation model. OLY is just beginning to scratch the surface of this under-explored pegmatite rich terrain.

Access to the Cadillac project is excellent, being a short drive from the town of Val d’Or which is a significant advantage for field work.

First phase of a ‘much larger exploration program’

Local exploration consultant Technominex was deployed to sample the cleared dykes in late August 2023 as a continuation of Vision’s earlier exploration campaign.

Numerous prospective pegmatite dykes were cleared by mechanical methods in early 2023, which cleared the path for Technominex to conduct geological mapping and surface sampling.

A total of 59 surface rock chip samples were collected from numerous pegmatite dykes proximal to the Wells-Lacourcière spodumene lithium project.

“It is fantastic to complete our first phase of exploration so soon after acquiring the project and we are fortunate to have several pegmatites already cleared on the project,” Delaney says.

“This is the first phase of a much larger exploration program that Olympio has planned, and we are gearing up to aggressively evaluate the many highly prospective pegmatites that exist beyond the Wells-Lacourcière lithium prospect that remain unexplored.”

He says the company is confident that numerous high priority drill targets will emerge.

What’s next?

Samples have been submitted to ALS in Val d’Or with results anticipated in October.

Meanwhile, OLY is actively planning the next exploration program, which will involve portable analysers (XRF and LIBS) to significantly speed up the exploration process, through in-field assessment of lithium content and pathfinder elements.

This exploration is planned for September/October.

This article was developed in collaboration with Olympio Metals, 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.