May 15 2019
QMC Quantum Minerals Corp. reports that during the most recent Irgon drill program, Cabot Corp., the owners of the TANCO Mine, provided QMC a chance to assess and re-sample the stored drill core derived from the 1978 TANCO drill program. This historical drilling was carried out on the Central and Mapetre pegmatite dikes which are situated within the Irgon Property.
During this 1978 drill program, the BQ core was split (with the aid of a core splitter) and then examined by TANCO to establish the tin and tantalum concentrations. The lithium content had been overlooked, as TANCO during that period was not interested in this metal. During this historical program, two short holes were drilled via the Mapetre Dike and 20 short holes were collared on the Central Dike. Temporarily, the core has been stored in the TANCO core facilities at the mine site.
Visual spodumene was mentioned in the 1978 logs. On re-sampling, QMC established that pegmatite was intersected in all drill holes for which the core was available. The available drill core was not finished, as a number of holes had sections that had been totally removed and three of the holes were missing from the TANCO storage facility.
QMC sawed the half core still in the core box, leaving a quarter of the original core in the TANCO inventory. The ¼ section of the core removed was examined by SGS Labs in Lakefield, Ontario, for 56 elements, including lithium, rubidium, niobium, tantalum, and cesium using a sodium peroxide fusion, which was followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES/ICP-MS). Analytical results are awaited.
Historical Estimates
From 1953 to 1954, the Lithium Corporation of Canada Limited drilled 25 holes into the Irgon Dike and then reported a historical mineral estimate of 1.2 million tons grading 1.51% Li2O over a strike length of 365 m and to a depth of 213 m (Northern Miner, Vol. 41, no.19, Aug. 4, 1955, p.3). This historical estimate is reported in a 1956 Assessment Report by B. B. Bannatyne for the Lithium Corporation of Canada Ltd. (Manitoba Assessment Report No. 94932). This historical estimate is said to be based on rational assumptions, and neither the company nor the QP has any reason to challenge the document’s significance and reliability. The thorough channel sampling and an ensuing drill program will be necessary to update this historical estimate to present-day NI 43-101 standards. Historic metallurgical tests stated an 87% recovery from which a concentrate averaging 5.9% Li2O was acquired.
During this historical 1950s period work program, a full-fledged mining plant was set up onsite, engineered to process 500 tons of ore daily, and a three-compartment shaft was sunk to a depth of 74 m. On the 61-meter level, lateral development was stretched from the shaft for a total of 366 m of drifting, from which seven crosscuts transected the dike. The work was postponed in 1957 in anticipation of a more promising market for lithium oxides. During this period, the mine buildings were taken down.
The mineral estimate quoted above is shown as a historical estimate and uses historical terminology which does not adhere to existing NI43-101 standards. A qualified person has not done adequate work to categorize the historical estimate as present-day mineral resources or mineral reserves. Although the historical estimates are said to be based on rational assumptions, they were calculated before the execution of National Instrument 43-101. These historical estimates do not match existing standards as stipulated under sections 1.2 and 1.3 of NI 43-101; consequently, the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as present-day mineral resources or mineral reserves.
Qualified Person and NI 43-101 Disclosure
The technical content of this press release has been appraised and approved by Bruce E. Goad, P. Geo., who is a qualified person as stipulated by National Instrument 43-101.