- Results from the 2023 till sampling program have confirmed the prospectivity of the area with the identification of 12 new target areas that are anomalous in lithium, cesium, and tantalum on the Nunavik lithium properties, which are 100% owned by Orford and have never previously been explored for economic minerals, including lithium.
- Till prospectivity mapping, along with anomalous grab samples have also highlighted the potential for gold on both the kWatt and Wire properties with two exploration target areas identified.
- Survey lines were planned in areas known to host strong positive lithium lake bottom sediment anomalies and associated pathfinder elements for LCT pegmatites based on previous regional government surveys. 550 widely spaced till samples were collected for the purpose of detecting anomalies typical of LCT pegmatites on the Radiant, kWatt and Wire properties (Figure 1). These anomalies may reflect LCT pegmatites covered by glacial till deposits that would therefore not be exposed at surface.
- Follow-up of the results will be a high priority for the 2024 field mapping and prospecting program (Figures 2 and 3).
Radiant
146 glacial till samples were collected (100 m x 1.5 km) over the western half of the Radiant property (~50 km2). Of these samples, 11 were anomalous in lithium and indicated enrichment in cesium and tantalum (Figure 2, Table 1). The results have delineated five new prospective target areas, some of which are proximal to known enriched pegmatites that were discovered during the 2023 field program.
kWatt
352 glacial till samples were collected in the northern part of kWatt. Sites were sampled every 80 m at 800 m-line spacing covering ~35 km2 of the property. Initial results identified 15 samples with elevated values in lithium, cesium and tantalum (Figure 3, Table 1) with six new prospective target areas outlined that are locally spatially associated with enriched pegmatites.
Wire
52 glacial till samples were collected on the Wire property. Of these samples, one sample was anomalous in lithium (Figure 3, Table 1). The survey has identified one new prospective target area.
Table 1: Summary of Till Anomalies for LCT Elements of Interest
Property | # Samples | # Anomalies Li | Cs Max (ppm) | ||
Radiant | 146 | 43 | 11 | 4.14 | 1.03 |
Kwatt | 352 | 33.3 | 15 | 2.96 | 0.98 |
Wire | 52 | 28.9 | 1 | 2.28 | 0.75 |
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2 The vectoring anomalies identified are based on the classifications proposed by A. Müller et al. 2022, taking into consideration potential for anatectic and granitic derived chemical signatures. The samples classified as "High" are greater than 3 standard deviations from the mean (> 98th percentile), and those classified as "Moderate" are between 2 and 3 standard deviations from the mean (94th to 98th percentile) where n = 640. |
Gold
The glacial till results indicate gold prospectivity at kWatt with samples returning significant values (e.g., 0.18 and 0.2 g/t Au) that are spatially associated with a larger, lower-grade, multi-sample anomalies including a subcrop grab sample of quartz vein in metasediment that returned 0.7 g/t Au (Figure 4). Till geochemistry specifically for gold has been very successful in the region based on Orford's previous work on its camp scale Qiqavik gold property and has led to several discoveries across the Qiqavik Belt. The magnitude of the gold values obtained in till on Kwatt and Wire are in the 99.5th percentile of Orford's regional till database of 5,650 till samples that have been analyzed for gold. The location of the higher-grade till samples on kWatt appear to be coincident with a regional NNW-trending structure previously identified by government mapping. Orford's next field season will aim to map and prospect all newly generated gold targets.
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4 The vectoring anomalies identified are based on the classifications proposed by A. Müller et al. 2022, taking into consideration potential for anatectic and granitic derived chemical signatures. The samples classified as "High" are greater than 3 standard deviations from the mean (> 98th percentile), and those classified as "Moderate" are between 2 and 3 standard deviations from the mean (94th to 98th percentile) where n = 640. |
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