Patriot Battery Metals Inc. [TSX-PMET; ASX-PMT; OTCQX-PMETF; FSE-R9GA] reported the final batch of core assay results from the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite from its 2024 winter drill program at the Corvette Property, including holes targeting the recently discovered high-grade Vega Zone.
The 100%-owned Corvette Property is located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of northern Quebec. The CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite is located approximately 3 km west-southwest of the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite, which hosts a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O Inferred and is situated approximately 13.5 km south of the regional and all‑weather Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure.
Darren L. Smith, Vice President of Exploration, commented, “The final holes from our recently completed winter drill program at CV13 confirm a significant discovery of high-grade spodumene pegmatite at the Vega Zone, with high-grade mineralization now defined over a significant area.
“With such high grades present at the Vega Zone – akin to what we see at the Nova Zone at CV5 – including a standout 9.7 m intercept grading over 5% Li2O, the new results clearly validate the considerable potential at CV13 as well as that of the larger mineralized system at Corvette. We intend to further delineate this discovery as part of our recently commenced summer-fall drill program, added Smith.
Core assay results for 16 drill holes, completed during the 2024 winter drill program at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite, are reported in this. This is the final batch of core assay results for CV13 drill holes from this program. Highlights, each from the Vega Zone, include: 51.7 metres at 1.77% Li2O, including 9.7 metres at 5.16% Li2O (CV24-525); 35.3 m at 2.40% Li2O, including 17.4 m at 3.12% Li2O (CV24-520); 34.8 m at 1.87% Li2O, including 19.1 m at 3.17% Li2O (CV24-524) and 41.5 m at 2.00% Li2O, including 10.6 m at 3.50% Li2O (CV24-510).
These four drill holes (CV24-510, 520, 524, and 525) were completed as follow-up to the discovery hole at the Vega Zone (CV24-470), which returned 34.4 metres at 2.90% Li2O, including 21.9 m at 3.58% Li2O.
The highest-grade intercept (of significant width) to date from CV13 is reported in this announcement from drill hole CV24-525 (9.7 m at 5.16% Li2O), which was the last drill hole to target the Vega Zone during the 2024 winter program. This drill hole contains five individual core samples (each ranging from 1.1 m to 2.0 m in width) with assays >5% Li2O, and nine samples >3% Li2O.
Geological modelling indicates the Vega Zone to be relatively flat-lying to shallow dipping and near-surface (starting at ~100 m vertical depth from surface), covering an area of approximately 380 by 220 metres (drill hole intercept to drill hole intercept) with an interpreted true thickness of ~8 to 30+ metres, hosted within a wider moderately to strongly mineralized pegmatite body. The Vega Zone remains open in several directions following the 2024 winter drill program.
The high-grade Vega Zone at CV13 Pegmatite is situated approximately 6 km south-west and along geological trend of the high-grade Nova Zone at the CV5 Pegmatite. Both zones share several similarities including lithium grades and very coarse decimetre to metre size spodumene crystals. However, both pegmatite zones have distinct orientations whereby the Vega Zone is relatively flat-lying to shallow dipping while the Nova Zone is steeply dipping to vertical.
Along the western arm of CV13, drill hole CV24-506 demonstrates that the pegmatite remains mineralized and open at depth in this area with an intercept of 8.2 metres at 1.14% Li2O. The principal pegmatite in this area dips north-easterly at approximately 25° and ranges in thickness from approximately 7 to 19 metres.
To date, the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite, through outcrop and drill hole data, is confirmed to extend over a strike length of at least 2.3 km and down-dip for at least 400 metres, and remains open at both ends and to depth.
Results for all drill holes completed during the 2024 winter program have now been reported – 50,961 m (121 holes) at CV5 and 11,557 metres (45 holes) at CV13. An updated MRE for the Corvette Project, incorporating drilling through April 2024 (i.e., end of the 2024 winter drill program) at both the CV5 and CV13 pegmatites, is scheduled for August 2024.
A follow-up drill program at CV13, focused on further delineation of the high-grade Vega Zone, is currently underway as part of this summer-fall drill program. Approximately 10,000 m of drilling is under consideration targeting the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite’s Vega Zone and the immediate corridor eastwards towards the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite.
The primary objective of the summer-fall program will be drilling at the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite to support an increase in MRE confidence from the Inferred category to the Indicated category. This work is designed to underpin a Mineral Resource Estimate of sufficient scale and confidence (i.e., Indicated classification) to support a Feasibility Study currently scheduled for completion in the second half of 2025.
The CV Lithium Trend is an emerging spodumene pegmatite district discovered by the company in 2017 and is interpreted to span more than 50 km across the Corvette Property. The core area includes the approximate 4.6 km long CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite, which hosts a maiden Mineral Resource estimate of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O Inferred.
To date, eight distinct clusters of lithium pegmatite have been discovered across the Corvette Property – CV4, CV5, CV8, CV9, CV10, CV12, CV13, and the recently discovered CV14. Given the proximity of some pegmatite outcrops to each other, as well as the shallow till cover in the area, it is probable that some of the outcrops may reflect a discontinuous surface exposure of a single, larger pegmatite “outcrop” subsurface.
Patriot Battery Metals is focused on advancing its district-scale Corvette Property and proximal to regional road and powerline infrastructure. The Corvette Property ranks as the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas based on contained lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), and one of the top 10 largest lithium pegmatite resources in the world. Additionally, the Corvette Property hosts multiple other spodumene pegmatite clusters that remain to be drill tested, as well as significant areas of prospective trend that remain to be assessed.
