How we’re rapidly unlocking Zigzag’s true lithium potential

As the guys on the ground prepare to push forward at our Zigzag project, I can’t help but feel excited about the opportunity we’re pursuing  here.
 
You can learn more about Zigzag by downloading and revisiting our free deep dive report here. 
 
But alongside this, I thought it would be useful to update you all on where we’re up to now and how quickly we’ve advanced in more detail…
 
Perfect project 
The bottom line is, Zigzag is the right project at the right time.
 
Why?
 
There’s the commodities it’s prospective for – lithium and tantalum.
 
The world is going to need a lot more lithium moving forward due to the metal’s key role in the electric vehicle revolution. And with a supply deficit of 500,000ts anticipated by the end of the decade, the reality is we’re going to need a lot of new sources of production over the coming years.
 
A similar gap is expected to emerge in the world of tantalum, too, as the critical metal’s use in capacitors soars across all manner of electronic devices. Roskil believes total demand will outstrip supply by 3,214ts by the end of the decade, and the distance could only grow if new mines do not enter production.
 
There’s also the geology Zigzag is presenting to us.
 
The block of claims covers the historic Tebishogeshik occurrence where previous workers have identified grades of up to 1.68% lithium over 7.9m and 0.168% tantalum over 2.54m. It also contains an open pegmatite reported to be more than 800m in length and 20m thick at surface, along which sampling has returned up to 3.55% lithium and 836ppm tantalum.
 
And then there’s the project’s location.
 
Not only is it within the ultra-mining friendly jurisdiction of Ontario, like all of our portfolio projects. But it is specifically based in an area prospective for hard rock, pegmatite hosted lithium, derisked by the likes of Green Technology Metals’ Seymour project. This hosts a 9.9Mt lithium resource at 1.04% that remains open along strike and down dip.

Figure 1 - Zigzag’s location and the surrounding projects

Pushing forward 
All this means we have been chomping at the bit to learn more about Zigzag’s potential. And it’s why we’ve done everything possible to expedite exploration since we took on an option to earn-in to the project earlier this year.
 
In this, I’d say we’ve been successful. Unequivocally so, actually.
 
Zigzag already had a permit in place when we entered our option, thanks to previous operator Nuinsco Resources. This enables for exploration activities ranging from stripping and trenching all the way to drilling.
 
Meanwhile, following a range of positive discussions and consultations led by our CEO Marc, we have executed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Whitesand First Nation. It lasts for three years and provides for the formal commencement of exploration work at Zigzag.
 
Boots on the ground 
Since reaching our agreement with Whitesand, we’ve been very quick to prepare for the exploration stage of our journey.
 
In fact, we’re ahead of schedule.
 
We’d originally believed that securing access to Zigzag would take several weeks – there was even a chance we’d have to fly everything in by helicopter. However, thanks to the sharp eyes of our team, we were able to map an easy route on to the project within a matter of days.
 
The net result is we will very shortly have a skilled team on the ground who will launch into our first phase of exploration. This will primarily involve prospecting, mapping, and clearing, using techniques such as rock chip sampling to identify interesting areas for further investigation.
 
The results of this work will then quickly inform our second phase of exploration, during which we will complete channel sampling. This will involve assessing the entire 800m length and 20m width of the pegmatite at Zigzag by completing surface sampling at consistent intervals.
 
The goal is to verify the results of work that has already been completed over the project historically. However, we will also be on the lookout for potential infills and extensions where economic quantities of lithium and tantalum could be located.
 
We can then investigate these areas further before, ultimately, drilling the best of them.

Figure 2 – Portion of lithium-bearing pegmatite taken from Zigzag

It remains to be seen what our work will reveal. But for now, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made towards investigating what is an undeniable opportunity to discover deposits of two highly-in-demand metals at Zigzag in an ideal location.
 
I look forward to updating you all on what we find as our work progresses over the coming weeks and months.