Clean Air Metals (TSX-V:AIR) is preparing to undertake follow up drilling before the year is out of new “high-grade” targets identified at its Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project in Ontario, Canada.
This follows re-modelling of the historical 2009 versatile time domain electromagnetic survey which used resistivity depth imaging to define distinct, shallow, low-resistivity anomalies at the Current deposit.
Clean Air undertook the work to improve its understanding of the system using an alternate approach to analysing past data.
Vice President of Exploration Lionnel Djon says the new resistivity-depth modeling is accurately mapping out the location of the known “high-grade” zones at Current.
“It also reveals flanking anomalies, presently undrilled, that are likely to represent additional high-grade pods or extensions to known pods,” he says.
“This methodology will be prioritised for guiding additional drilling at both Current and Escape as we continue to delineate the critical high-grade resources needed to support a lower risk, higher-margin underground mining scenario for the project.”
Clean Air says the Current deposit hosts “near-surface high-grade” sulphide mineralisation in distinct high-grade pods.
A summer 2024 drilling program was designed to expand high-grade areas inside the deposit through tighter drill spacing.
Drilling returned massive sulphide intercepts of 51.79m @ 4.92 grams per tonne (g/t) platinum, 4.66g/t palladium, 1.07% copper and 0.55% nickel from 86m, including 0.97m @ 25.82g/t platinum, 24.50g/t palladium, 6.94% copper and 3.87% nickel from 136.3m.
Clean Air now plans to undertake a follow-up drill program before the end of the year, concurrent with an expanded detailed 3D resistivity modelling program across the Current and Escape deposits to accurately map mineralised channels and highlight areas of maximum conductivity and thickness.
Clean Air says the insights derived from the programs will guide a subsequent phase of drilling aimed at uncovering new high-grade zones and potentially increasing resources within these areas.
The Current and Escape deposits are located 2.5km apart and collectively host indicated resources of 13.8 million tonnes containing 2.4 million platinum equivalent ounces.
The Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project sits 40km northeast of Thunder Bay in Ontario.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Clean Air Metals
