Harfang Exploration Inc.’s [HAR-TSXV] field crew has discovered several spodumene occurrences in pegmatites in the eastern part of the Serpent-Radisson property located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region, northern Quebec. Spodumene is a lithium mineral.
This discovery was made in the initial days of prospecting and, as a result, Harfang intends to devote most of its efforts for the remaining prospecting season to the property which is already known for its gold and copper potential.
Highlights: Discovery of several pegmatite dykes with up to 50% spodumene crystals mapped at several localities spread over at least 1 km; boulder field containing only angular spodumene-bearing pegmatite floats of cubic metre dimensions down-ice of the discovery outcrop.
The discovery occurred at the early stages of the field program on the Property and surface work is ongoing until the end of the prospecting season.
Ian Campbell, President and CEO, commented: “We are excited about today’s announcement which represents one of the very first discoveries of spodumene-bearing pegmatites since the beginning of the lithium rush in the emerging James Bay district. We are off to a superb start as our team has only been on this Property for a few days following the lifting of the lengthy fire ban and there is a lot of ground to cover. We have felt since last year that the area of this discovery had excellent potential for the discovery of LCT pegmatites based on our initial sampling results combined with the overall favourable geological environment which contains similarities to the major lithium deposits in James Bay. This discovery area also contains several high-grade gold showings as well as the compelling Mista copper target which is drill-ready.”
The current program confirms, for the first time, the presence of major lithium mineralization in pegmatite outcrops and boulders. Harfang has accelerated its efforts to test the extensions of this discovery before the prospecting season ends. Pegmatites in the area contain muscovite with accessory minerals such as tourmaline, garnet, apatite and beryl. The beryl content reaches up to 10 per cent locally in the surrounding pegmatites.
The spodumene-bearing boulder field measures about 10-30 metres in size and is located 30 metres southwest of the discovery outcrop. The floats in the boulder field are angular, have a cubic metre size and are exclusively composed of spodumene-bearing pegmatite (Figure 6 ). Harfang believes that the boulders have not been transported by the glacier and hence could indicate the presence of Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum pegmatites (“LCT pegmatites”) in the underlying bedrock.
Harfang has just started its field campaign on Serpent-Radisson as part of a follow-up on a reconnaissance campaign done in the eastern part of the Property during summer 2022 to evaluate the lithium potential of pegmatites. Grab samples collected during that campaign showed that these intrusive rocks, which contain highly anomalous beryllium (up to 25,000 ppm), lithium (up to 1,420 ppm), cesium (up to 998 ppm), tantalum (up to 173 ppm), niobium (up to 278 ppm) and rubidium (up to 1,095 ppm), fall in the category known as LCT Pegmatites.
The field crew is still collecting rock samples on the Property. Analytical results will be disclosed as soon as available.
The area hosts many high-grade gold occurrences discovered by Harfang such as Lawr (189 g/t Au, 200 g/t Ag and 1.7% Pb [grab], and 9.79 g/t Au over 1.25 metres [channel]), Anaconda Ouest (117 g/t Au), and Couleuvre (38.40 g/t Au).
The recent lithium discovery coupled with the already known gold, copper and silver occurrences considerably enhances the mineral potential in the eastern part of Serpent-Radisson. This portion of the property has received limited field work as the previous focus of the Company was oriented toward the western half where most of the exploration work has been conducted since 2020 based on the discovery of gold-rich till and soil and abundant associated gold occurrences in bedrock.
The Eeyou Istchee James Bay region is rapidly emerging as a North American lithium province comparable to some of the largest districts globally based on the occurrence of several deposits and is experiencing an exploration rush. Harfang’s Serpent-Radisson Property consists of 988 claims totalling 50,843 hectares and is located proximal to the La Grande – Opinaca subprovince boundary which is a similar geological setting to the majority of the lithium deposits in James Bay.
Harfang Exploration is well financed with approximately $6.2 M in the treasury as of September 1, 2023. In early trading 13Sep23, shares of Harfang gained $0.07 to $0.225.
