Trinex Minerals has started exploration to assess pegmatites at its Halo-Yuri lithium project. Pic: Getty Images
Trinex puts boots on the ground in ‘emerging lithium hot spot’
Mining
share
- Trinex Minerals starts on-ground exploration at the Halo-Yuri and MAC lithium projects
- Pegmatites identified by satellite imagery at Halo-Yuri will be assessed
- Positive results will lead to follow-up channel sampling in July
- Rock chip sampling to be carried out at MAC to follow-up on initial sampling that identified prospective areas
Special Report: Trinex Minerals is starting on-ground exploration at its Canadian lithium projects, where hundreds of outcropping pegmatites dot the landscape.
The remote Northwest Territories of Canada stepped into the spotlight mid 2023 when TSXV-listed explorer LIFT stumbled upon numerous outcropping spodumene-bearing pegmatites up to 1,800m long and 40m wide “plainly visible from satellite imagery”.
With a maiden resource due later this year, this project has potential to be one of the largest hard rock lithium resources in North America, LIFT CEO Francis MacDonald said.
This is great news for other first movers in the region, including Trinex Minerals (ASX:TX3), which acquired three projects late 2023.
Work is now about to begin at two of these, Halo-Yuri and MAC.
Measuring in at ~450km2, Halo-Yuri is both the largest and northernmost of the three projects.
Historical exploration had focused on finding diamonds with little or no work on the spodumene-bearing pegmatites, which were documented but essentially untouched.
This is intriguing as recent satellite imagery has identified hundreds of pegmatites that require follow-up.
MAC covers ~43km2 and hosts numerous documented pegmatites both north and south of Thistlethwaite Lake which transects the project.
It includes ground the company rushed to stake after it became available as its previous work indicated the most prospective areas – determined using potassium/rubidium ratios which indicates the degree of fractionation of the pegmatite – were present in the new ground.
Targeted exploration
TX3 has now started targeted exploration at Halo-Yuri to rapidly assess the pegmatite systems that were identified through satellite imagery.
It expects the extent of these pegmatites at surface to be significantly more than what is obviously visible in the imagery.
This will be followed by channel sampling in July pending positive results.
At the MAC project, the company will complete first pass rock chip sampling to follow-up on initial sampling carried out in 2023 that identified several prospective zones based on the falling K/Rb ratios within pegmatite systems.
“We are delighted to be back on the ground in the Northwest Territories, which is an emerging lithium hot spot in Canada,” managing director Will Dix said.
“Our thorough planning and preparation over the last couple of months will ensure we maximise our effectiveness during our time in the field. We fully expect to identify prospective pegmatite swarms during this campaign, which will lead to a more detailed channel sampling program later in the summer.
“We have only just started to build a picture of the potential at our Canadian lithium projects, and we remain encouraged by what we have seen in initial exploration programs. We are fully funded for our summer exploration activities, and we look forward to providing updates as we move forward.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Trinex Minerals, 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.
