How we plan to develop Zigzag’s lithium AND critical metal potential from here…
Today’s drill results mark a milestone moment for our Zigzag project in Ontario, Canada.
You can read our news release here, and both Marc and I have completed interviews that will be released shortly.
Alongside this, I also wanted to write to you all here quickly to underline what I see as two very promising avenues forward at Zigzag now we have our assays back…
Lithium AND critical metal potential at the project.
Lithium potential open
First-of-all, today’s results without a doubt enhance Zigzag’s prospectivity for lithium.
We already knew each of the eight holes we’d drilled had intersected visible pegmatite. Now we can confirm that they also hit reportable intersections of lithium, with highlights including:
- 4.3m @ 1.65% Li20 (lithium dioxide) including 1m at 2.93%
- 5.0m @ 1.5% Li20 including 0.2m @ 5.19% and 5.75m @ 0.21% Rb20
- 6.5m @ 1.09% Li20 including 0.5m @ 2.76%
These grades have exceeded our expectations. In combination with our existing grab and channel samples and soil surveying, they strongly suggest the 400m “Main Zone” we’re focusing on hosts a significant structure with a strike of >1% lithium.
Naturally, we’re very keen to follow this up with more exploration targeting an economic lithium discovery. Given the positive supply/demand economics in this metal market, this would stand to be very valuable.
But let’s not forget that the potential here could be even greater.
With our most eastern and western holes intersecting pegmatite (the rock hosting the lithium), the structure we’re drilling appears to be open along strike. This potential extension is further backed up by our soil sampling results.
Not just that, but there is strong geochemical support for a sub parallel trend about 200m to the south of the main zone we’ve been drilling.
We’re very keen to complete work to investigate both of these leads. It’s why we’re been so quick to begin work on drafting an additional exploration permit to allow for additional stripping and drilling.
Map showing the position of the Main Zone and the potential subparallel structure to the south
Critical metal potential
Moving on, and what today’s results have made very clear is that Zigzag is also highly prospective for critical metal discoveries.
The project remains first and foremost a lithium opportunity for now. But caesium, gallium, rubidium, and tantalum stand to provide a significant credit to the metallurgy of any resource we identify.
The grades we’ve encountered for each compare favourably to economic deposits globally. And while all of these metals may be less widely discussed than the likes of lithium, they are still extremely important and very much in demand.
All four play a vital role they play in the chipmaking, communications, and electronics industries. They have been designated as critical by North American governments due to the fact that, as it stands, production is currently dominated by China.
All the better for us, then, that Zigzag in based in Canada. It means any critical metal discovery we make could provide an essential domestic source of production.
As with a lithium discovery, this could be very valuable. Take Rubidium, for example, which has recently traded for more than $3,100 per ounce on the Shanghai Metals Market.
It’s no wonder a company called Integral Metals was recently incorporated to focus on exploring the critical metal potential of its own Zigzag project neighbouring ours.
With all this in mind, we look forward to conducting further investigations into the potential for critical metals at Zigzag and their impact on the overall value of the project.
To round up, we’re very happy with today’s results. Zigzag’s mineral potential is strengthening and expanding, and we look forward to continuing our work towards making an economic discovery (or discoveries) over the coming weeks and months.
