Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT) has discovered a ‘large’ zone of caesium mineralisation at the CV13 pegmatite, which forms part of the Shaakichiuwaanaan Project in Québec, Canada.
The primary zone of enrichment is coincident with CV13 and can be traced in drillholes over a 600m by 400m area, which remains open in several directions.
Patriot Battery, which has a market capitalisation of $416.43 million, notes that pollucite — the principal ore mineral for caesium — has been uncovered by XRD mineralogical analysis at CV13.
The company interprets it to be the principal source of the caesium enrichment at the project. Patriot Battery says a more focused mineralogical program is underway.
The news comes after a review of the company’s drill core assay dataset was undertaken, which identified multiple distinct areas of considerable caesium enrichment.
Vice President of Exploration Darren Smith says identifying multiple zones of extensive caesium mineralisation at Shaakichiuwaanaan is significant.
“Caesium pegmatite occurrences over 1% caesium monoxide are very rare and represent only the most fractioned and evolved portion of a pegmatite body,” Smith says.
“Although the focus for the company is lithium pegmatite and advancing CV5 to production, there is a clear opportunity to potentially delineate a pollucite zone of significant scale.”
The company is planning to use drill and surface sampling data to geologically model the zone of caesium enrichment within the wider pegmatite body at each of the main occurrences, with the focus on the Vega zone area of CV13.
Additionally, caesium will be added to the block model to further assess the occurrences.
Patriot Battery notes that the caesium discovery presents an opportunity to evaluate the potential of caesium as a marketable by-product, which could complement the lithium-focused development strategy.
As the Feasibility Study for CV5 progresses, the company will assess the potential for a caesium resource at Shaakichiuwaanaan and its implications for future exploration and development.
Caesium is a specialty metal that is listed as a critical and strategic mineral by Canada, Japan, and the US. The metal is used to support the completion of oil and gas wells at high pressure and temperatures.
The metal is also used in atomic clocks, GPS, aircraft guidance, and telecommunications.
Patriot Battery Metals is a hard-rock lithium explorer focused on advancing its district-scale wholly owned Shaakichiuwaanaan Project, formerly known as the Corvette Property, in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Québec, Canada.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Patriot Battery Metals
