Mar 26 2016
Genius Properties Ltd.is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Dissimieux Lake Titanium-Phosphate-REE's Property from Jourdan Resources Inc. located within the La Blache Lake Anorthositic Complex, located 140 km northwest of Baie-Comeau and 130 km north of Forestville (Quebec) along the Upper North Shore of the St-Lawrence River, and approximately 350 km in-line north-northeast of Quebec City.
The Project consists of 15 claims for 8.4 km2, and is road accessible via Provincial Highway #138 at Forestville, then driving northward on Highway #385 to Labrieville, and from there using a network of secondary gravel forestry roads provides direct access to the Property on the east-southeast shore of Dissimieux Lake. The Property hosts titanium-phosphate (ilmenite-apatite) mineralization located near the southern margin of the La Blache Anorthositic Complex (the "LBAC"). The LBAC is elongated in a northeast-southwest direction and stretches over 60 km by 15 to 25 km wide, and was emplaced into a highly metamorphosed and folded package of steeply dipping, north-northeast dipping paragneisses and amphibolites of the Grenville Geological Province. The Property is dominated by steep hills, with elevations ranging from 435 m to 700 m above sea level.
Only regional geophysical surveying and geological mapping had been carried out in the Property area before AFCAN Mining Corporation ("AFCAN"), formerly known as Société d'exploration Minière et pétrolière Gaspésie, staked the original claims at Dissimieux Lake. AFCAN completed detailed mapping, sampling and geophysical surveys over the original property (Pritchard, 1994, in GM53348; Birkett, 1995 and 1996, in GM 53515 and GM 54835; Oswald and Birkett, 1996, in GM 54764). A drill program of 8 holes totalling 637.5 m on two sections was also carried out in 1994 by AFCAN (GM 53349).
Ilmenite-apatite concentrations were traced for more than 6 km of strike length along a northeast-southwest orientation, up to 1 km wide, near the south shore of Dissimieux Lake. The mineralization was hosted in several bands 20 m to 50 m wide made up of finely disseminated magmatic apatite and ilmenite, associated with gabbro, and the ilmenite occurred as a magnetite-ilmenite assemblage linked to magnetic high anomalies. The average grades calculated from surface sampling was 5% TiO2 (corresponding to 10% ilmenite) and 3.5% P2O5 (corresponding to 10% apatite). The corresponding average grades from the core samples were 4.72% TiO2 and 3.65% P2O5, with highs of 8.35% TiO2 and 4.42% P2O5. Lower intensity magnetic anomalies retained the higher TiO2 grades but were lower in P2O5.
Lakefield Research of Canada Ltd. ("Lakefield") (1997, in GM 54867; 1998, in GM 56490), COREM (2000, in GM 58571) and Lakefield (2000, in GM 58570) assessed the feasibility of concentrating the titanium and phosphate. Lakefield achieved recoveries of 92 % of the apatite to produce a concentrate at 41.2 % P2O5, and recovered 62.5 % of the ilmenite to produce a concentrate at 48.1% TiO2 with a sample containing 3.5 % P2O5 and 5.4 % TiO2. It was concluded at the time that the higher the TiO2 and P2O5 grades in rocks, the higher the recoveries in concentrates.
Met-Chem Canada Inc. ("Met-Chem") (2000, in GM 58569) made an attempt to estimate the "Mining Potential" of the southern portion of the ilmenite-apatite mineralization. The underlying concept rested entirely on the assumption that a direct correlation existed between the strong magnetic anomalies and the ilmenite-apatite mineralization. However, this relationship was never confirmed as the mafic components of the LLBAC, such as the gabbros and the ultramafic rocks exhibited high magnetic susceptibilities, even in the absence of ilmenite-apatite mineralization.
Nevertheless to estimate the resources, Met-Chem used the two drilled sections from AFCAN, the geophysical surveys and geological mapping. The cumulative length of favorable magnetic anomalies covered 11,200 m, multiplied by width (averaging 90 m) of the mineralization based on the area of mineralization calculated from the two existing drill sections to a maximum depth of 75 m. A specific gravity of 3.25 tonnes per m3 was used based on core samples.
In 2012 to 2013 Jourdan drilled 34 holes at Dissimieux Lake, for a total of 3949 m, demonstrating mineralization over a strike length of 2.4 kilometres. Five parallel zones of phosphate mineralization were intersected, often with intersections of mineralization great than 100m in drilled thickness.
"Anticipated Resources" of 235 million tonnes were estimated at a grade of 3.65% P2O5 and 4.72% TiO2 based on the drill core results (Met-Chem, 2000, in GM58569). The estimate is considered historic Mineral Resources.
The terms "Mining Potential" and "Anticipated Resources" are not recognized National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 Mineral Resources or Mineral Reserves categories, and therefore should not the relied upon. There has been insufficient work and a Qualified Person has not reviewed nor evaluated "Mining Potential", "Anticipated Resources" or historic Mineral Resources in terms of NI 43-101 standards to qualify the estimates into current Mineral Resources. There is no evidence at this time to suggest that any future exploration would result in any of the estimates being converted into NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources. GENIUS is of the opinion that the estimates reflects either the ilmenite-apatite or titanium-phosphate mineralization potential of the Property.
The last major work on the Property was the Met-Chem scoping study (2000, in GM 58569). Met-Chem indicated the ilmenite-phosphate mineralization was amenable to open-pit mining with a 1:1 waste to ore. It was proposed to transport the concentrate via a pipeline at a cost of $3.28 per tonne transport based on a yearly transport of 457,500 tonnes of concentrate (217,500 tonnes of ilmenite and 240,000 tonnes of apatite) over a distance of 140 km. In 2009, the Vendors assayed a sample from the original apatite concentrate for Rare Earth Elements ("REE's") and Rare Metal analysis at ALS Laboratories using the 38 element ICP-MS Analytical Method (ME-MS81) (refer to the appended table). The apatite concentrate sample contains 0.18% TREE's, of which 72% are LREE's (Light REE'S: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm) and 28% are HREE's (Heavy REE's: Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Y). The most significant REE's results are 517 ppm Cerium (Ce), 66 ppm Dysprosium (Dy), 115 ppm Gadolinium (Gd), 169 ppm Lanthanum (La), 405 ppm Neodynium (Nd), 85 ppm Praseodymium (Pr), 98 ppm Samarium (Sm), 521 ppm Strontium (Sr) and 348 ppm Yttrium (Yt).
GENIUS's strategy going forward is focused on proving up the highest quality NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources on the Property, as it initially aims at validating and confirming the previous work and the historic Mineral Resources estimate of 235 million tonnes grading 4.72% TiO2 and 3.65% P2O5 to National Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources in either the Inferred category or in higher categories, and if successful, eventually test the full mineralization potential over the multi-kilometric trend as a high tonnage titanium oxide (in ilmenite), phosphate (in apatite) and REE's (in apatite) mineral resource.
Genius would also like to congratulate Arianne Phosphate for the higher grade and higher quality phosphate concentrate testing on ore from the Lac A Paul project, also announced on Monday, March 16, 2015. In the press release, a trial produced 1.2 tonnes of phosphate concentrate with a grade of 40.0% P2O5 and 0.03% of contaminants. Arianne announced on February 18, 2015, a new 43-101 mineral resource estimate on the Paul Zone totalling 702.7 million tonnes at 7.16% P2O5 with a 4.0% P2O5 cut-off grade in the measured and indicated category. Dissimieux Lake Project is 50 km east of Arianne Phosphate's Lac A Paul project.
At Dissimieux Lake, Lakefield Research of Canada Ltd. ("Lakefield") (1997, in GM 54867; 1998, in GM 56490), COREM (2000, in GM 58571) and Lakefield (2000, in GM 58570) assessed the feasibility of concentrating the titanium and phosphate. Lakefield achieved recoveries of 92% of the apatite to produce a concentrate at 41.2% P2O5, and recovered 62.5% of the ilmenite to produce a concentrate at 48.1% TiO2 from a sample containing 3.5% P2O5 and 5.4% TiO2. It was concluded at the time that the higher the TiO2 and P2O5 grades in rocks, the higher the recoveries in concentrates. (Previously reported in press release dated May 6, 2010). The ability to produce a concentrate of 41.2% P2O5 from Dissimieux Lake compares well with the 40.0% P2O5 concentrate produced in a larger scale test by Arianne Phosphate from the Paul Zone, approximately 50 km west of the Dissimieux Lake test sample.
"Québec is poised to become an important source of high grade, low impurity phosphate rock concentrate. The recent permitting success of Mine Arnaud, and technical success of Arianne Phosphate, demonstrate that Québec has the potential to become a viable source of phosphate rock concentrate" states Stephane Leblanc, President and CEO. This type of concentrate is the key ingredient used to produce high quality phosphoric acid and phosphate based granular fertilizers, the market for which is currently dominated by Foskor of South Africa, who produce a high quality phosphate concentrate from igneous rocks, similar to those found in Québec, unlike the sedimentary deposits being mined in the Middle East and North Africa.
Similar type deposits in Quebec include d'Arianne Resources Inc's Lac Paul Project, and Investissement Quebec and Yara International's Mine Arnaud Project.