Mar 26 2013
Valterra Resource Corporation reports that a diamond drill rig has been mobilized onsite and commenced coring at the +160 sq. km. Bobcaygeon Graphite Project in southern Ontario.
The company is utilizing a portable 'Prospector 89' drill rig which is capable of drilling several near-surface targets recently identified by trenching, mapping and geophysical surveys. The primary focus is to test proximal zones to the Discovery Zone trench which has returned excellent metallurgical, analytical and geophysical results.
Previously reported Bobcaygeon highlights include:
- High-Purity Concentrate from Discovery Trench Metallurgy (see NR-05-13)
- 99.14% C returned in fine flake leach test (Double LOI) and 100% C(t) by Leco.
- Geophysics Outlines Large Target Area (see NR-02-13)
- Excellent IP, EM and MAG data was received from an 11 line-km survey centred on the Discovery Zone trench. The most prominent drill-ready feature is an open-ended, near surface IP chargeability anomaly covering an 800m x 400m area.
- High-Grade Channel Sampling Results Reported (see NR-01-13)
- 36.8% Cg over 1.5m (minimum thickness) & 20.2% Cg over 1.4m (minimum thickness) in Discovery Zone trench sampling which also exposed approximately 20m of strike length with trenching bottoming in graphite.
The drill program is intended as a lead up to a more extensive drilling campaign which is currently being planned to systematically test the large geophysical target area, and other key anomalies and showings identified within the large property package.
About Graphite
Graphite is a naturally occurring form of carbon with wide-ranging and unique physical properties. Graphene is derived from graphite and is one of the strongest known substances with a tensile strength 200 times the strength of steel. The industrial development of graphene is at an early stage but will eventually become a replacement for several expensive electronic components such as silicon semi-conductors. There are three natural primary graphite occurrences - vein, flake, and amorphous where the highest quality product can command prices in excess of $2,000 per tonne. In pricing graphite, the flake size is a key factor with the large flake (> .178mm) ores commanding the highest prices in markets dominated by multi-national eco-automobile manufacturers, high-tech industries and nuclear energy companies. Recent pricing and demand increases have accelerated numerous exploration and investment opportunities in the graphite market.
The Province of Ontario is an excellent locale to explore owing to superior geology, geoscience knowledge, infrastructure, political stability and tax incentives. Several projects are advancing in the graphite field including Northern Graphite Corporation, Zenyatta Ventures Inc. and Ontario Graphite Ltd.
The Bobcaygeon property is hosted in rocks of the Grenville geological province which hosts most of the known significant graphite deposits in Canada.