Clean Air Metals (TSX-V:AIR) is considering moving to advanced exploration after confirming that “high-grade” mineralisation at the Thunder Bay North (TBN) Project extends outside of the resource.
The news sent shares up over 71% to close at $0.06 on Tuesday (10 September), giving the junior explorer a C$12.2 million ($13.5 million) market capitalisation.
Hole CL24-001 returned an intercept of 51.79m @ 4.92 grams per tonne (g/t) platinum, 4.66g/t palladium, 1.07% copper ,and 0.55% nickel from 86m.
This included intercepts of 9.29m @ 11.51g/t platinum, 10.64g/t palladium, 2.61% copper and 1.25% nickel from 128m, and 0.97m @ 25.82g/t platinum, 24.50g/t palladium, 6.94% copper and 3.87% nickel from 136.3m.
Meanwhile, hole CL24-003 intercepted 31.4m @ 4.22g/t platinum, 4.04g/t palladium, 0.95% copper and 0.56% nickel from 118m, including 12.25m @ 5.56g/t platinum, 5.48g/t palladium, 1.19% copper and 0.70% nickel from 123m.
This hole intersected massive sulphides near the base of the intrusion, in a zone where reduced magma flow and cooling conditions promoted sulphide settling and metal concentration, leading to the formation of high-grade mineralisation.
Clean Air notes that past drilling at the Current and Escape deposits has also intersected pockets of high-grade massive sulphides in similar embayments in the intrusion.
These occurrences demonstrate the potential for these deposits to host additional massive sulphides, and continued exploration work is needed to identify the feeder zone for this material.
Clean Air says results from hole CL24-003, along with adjacent holes, outline a potentially larger high-grade core within this section of the intrusion than previously evaluated.
CEO Mike Garbutt says the high grades, mineable widths, and near-surface location support the future development of this buildable asset.
“We are focused on significantly improving the TBN project economics by fully defining the highest value mineralisation within the Current and Escape deposits,” he says.
“The initial results from this program have exceeded our expectations.”
The remaining eight holes of the drill program have been completed, with all intersecting mineralisation in four separate targets. Assays for these holes are pending.
Clean Air says the positive results from this program support the company’s view that both deposits together can be developed into a smaller tonnage, high-grade and low-capital cost mine.
The higher-grade mineralisation is spatially distributed in distinct and separable zones that allow for targeted extraction using traditional open-stope mining methods.
This approach will form the foundation for a future technical study following the results of the next phase of drilling.
To further de-risk Thunder Bay North, Clean Air is considering the potential extraction of a bulk sample from the Bridge zone at the Current deposit.
The aim is to validate the high-grade mining approach, as well as quantify the metallurgical performance of a toll milling scenario on a larger scale.
Clean Air previously revised the geological template for the high-grade areas at Thunder Bay North that mirrors flow processes similar to those associated with alluvial gold processes.
This resulted in the first two holes expanding the zone of thick, high-grade pods along strike in the Lower Current zone.
Clean Air says the results of drilling also provides early “proof of concept” that increasing data density with tighter drilling could further extend the continuity of the high-grade mineralised zones within the deposit and contribute to increased tonnage and grade.
The explorer is now mapping out an exploration program designed to discover new high-grade zones within the Current and Escape deposits.
This is being done alongside a resource delineation program to increase the resources contained in the additional high-grade areas within the Current and Escape deposits.
The Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project in Ontario has an existing indicated resource of 14 million tonnes, containing 1.2 million ounces of platinum and palladium, 56,800 tonnes of copper and 33,800 tonnes of nickel.
Additionally, Clean Air has secured an exploration permit for the other intrusions – Lone Island North and South and 025 – located on the claim package.
While no work is planned for this area in 2024, the company is defining a potential 2025 exploration program there.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Clean Air Metals
