Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR) has executed a binding purchase and sale agreement with TSX-V lister Power Metals Corp to acquire its Gullwing-Tot Lakes property in Ontario, Canada.
The company has also directly staked, at minimal cost, a further 8,376 hectares of claims over an area the vendor acknowledges has been “historically underexplored”.
Fully contiguous with existing holdings
This new combined area of the Mavis Lake Project is fully contiguous with CRR's Mavis Lake Project – forming an area 30 kilometres long and 9.5 kilometres wide – and has increased the company's holding by 324%, so that it now sits at roughly 22,984 hectares.
The Gullwing-Tot Lakes property comprises 358 individual claims, collectively 7,518 hectares, around 5.5 kilometres northeast of the Mavis Lake ‘Main Zone’ where the company has been successfully drilling since April 2022.
These tenements are considered highly prospective for lithium mineralisation. Historical exploration has identified multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatites over the project area, with rock-chip samples returning grades of up to 6.78% lithium dioxide (Li2O).
A further 416 individual claims, combining for a total area of 8,736 hectares, has also been staked and registered directly by the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Canada Critical Resources Corp.
Highly prospective geological setting
The under-acquisition and staked claims, in conjunction with the Mavis Lake Lithium Project, will form a single contiguous block covering around 22,984 hectares over a highly prospective geological setting for lithium.
The acquisition and organic growth, underpinned by continued positive drilling results, strongly align with the company’s development focus for the Mavis Lake Lithium Project.
CRR managing director Alex Cheeseman said: “This significant increase in land position is naturally aligned to the company’s focus on Mavis Lake.
“Planning has already begun to undertake exploration efforts on the newly acquired area in 2023, as we leverage synergies with our existing Mavis Lake exploration team and build upon recent exceptional drilling results.
“To secure a significant increase in ground, contiguous with our current land holding, in a highly prospective area with known spodumene-bearing pegmatites, running along the same geological trend as Mavis Lake is an outstanding outcome for the company and strengthens our already impressive Mavis Lake Project.”
About the acquisition
Gullwing-Tot Lakes is in Drope and Webb townships, 30 kilometres northeast of Dryden, Ontario, and about 5.5 kilometres northeast of the Mavis Lake ‘Main Zone’.
The claims are in the Sioux Lookout Domain in the western Wabigoon Subprovince.
This property is considered to be prospective for lithium, caesium and tantalum mineralisation, confirmed through rock chip and channel sampling completed by Power Metals in the period from 2018 to 2020.
Historical rock chip sampling completed by Power Metals in 2018 centred on two outcropping pegmatites – Gullwing Lake and Tot Lake. Significant results included:
- 6.78% Li2O from spodumene sample (Gullwing Pegmatite);
- 0.73% Li2O from spodumene-albite-quartz sample (Gullwing Pegmatite);
- 759 ppm tantalum from large tantalum-oxide crystals in albite unit (Gullwing Pegmatite);
- 4.58% Li2O from quartz-spodumene (Tot Lake Pegmatite);
- 2.62% Li2O from quartz-spodumene (Tot Lake Pegmatite);
- 1.68% Li2O and 233 ppm tantalum-spodumene (Tot Lake Pegmatite); and
- 498 ppm tantalum from albitised K-feldspar (Tot Lake Pegmatite).
With its location, the Gullwing-Tot Lakes property, like Mavis Lake, has excellent and immediate access to national-level road and rail infrastructure, hydro-power and support services from the town of Dryden.