Clean Air Metals Reports Drill Results and Corporate Update including Project Payment and Prefeasibility Kickoff around Metallurgical Optimization
Clean Air Metals Reports Drill Results and Corporate Update including
Project Payment and Prefeasibility Kickoff around Metallurgical
Optimization
THUNDER BAY, ON
,
May 26, 2022
/CNW/ - Clean Air Metals Inc. ("
Clean Air Metals
" or the "
Company
") (TSXV: AIR) (FRA: CKU) (OTCQB: CLRMF) is
pleased to announce new assay results from the 2022 drill campaign from the Escape PGE-Cu-Ni Deposit at the Company's Thunder Bay North Project near
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
(the "
Project
").
New assay highlights from the Escape South deposit area includes (Table 1):
Hole ELR22-137 which intersected
39.0m
grading 1.17g/t Platinum (Pt), 1.47g/t Palladium (Pd), 0.49% Copper (Cu) and 0.27% Nickel (Ni)
from
361.0m
-
400.0m
downhole.
Hole ELR22-139 which intersected
16.0m
grading 1.83g/t Platinum (Pt), 2.38g/t Palladium (Pd), 0.88% Copper (Cu) and 0.51% Nickel (Ni)
from
383.0m
-
399.0m
downhole including
6.0m
grading 2.63 g/t Platinum (Pt), 3.48g/t Palladium (Pd), 1.28% Copper (Cu) and 0.75% Nickel (Ni)
from
385.0-
391.0m
downhole (Figure 1).
Hole ELR22-140 which intersected
25.0m
grading 2.01g/t Platinum (Pt), 2.57g/t Palladium (Pd), 0.94% Copper (Cu) and 0.52% Nickel (Ni)
from
325.7m
-
373.0m
downhole.
The Escape Deposit also underwent an additional
37,000m
of expansion drilling in 2021 and over
17,000m
in 2022 which has confirmed continuity between the
Escape South HGZ
and the
Escape North Zone
and may add materially to the total Thunder Bay North Project Indicated insitu mineral resource (effective
November 1, 2021
) of 8.12 g/t PtEq in 14,553,324 million tonnes (reported
December 1, 2021
).
Mineral resource endowment and platinum-equivalents are quoted pursuant to the Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Thunder Bay North
Project,
Thunder Bay, Ontario
, with an effective date of
January 20, 2021
(the "
Technical Report
"). The Technical Report was posted to SEDAR on
March 4,
2021
and prepared by Nordmin Engineering Ltd.- QP Glen Kuntz, P.Geo.
Ontario
. Nordmin as QP utilized 2-year trailing average metal price assumptions[1] for
the updated mineral resource as a basis for the Preliminary Economic Assessment reported on
December 1, 2021
and filed
January 12, 2022
.
Property Payment to Panoramic Resources Limited
The Company is also pleased to advise that it has paid Panoramic Resources Limited (ASX: PAN) ('Panoramic') the second deferred consideration instalment
payment of
C$1.5 million
from the sale of the Thunder Bay North PGM Project. The sale of the Thunder Bay North Project was completed via a Share Purchase
Agreement in the 2020 financial year (see press release issued on
May 14, 2020
) whereby Panoramic's wholly-owned subsidiary Magma Metals Pty Limited sold
all shares it held in Panoramic PGMs Canada Limited to Clean Air Metals Inc. for total consideration of
C$9 million
. Inclusive of this latest instalment (
C$1.5
million
), Panoramic has received sale proceeds totaling
C$7.5 million
to date. The final deferred consideration payment of
C$1.5 million
is due to be received by
May 13, 2023
. A related transaction with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada for the purchase of the Escape Property for
C$6 million
has been paid in full. Both
transactions fall under an Option-Purchase Agreement with Benton Resources Inc.
__________________________
1
CRU 2-year metal price assumptions can be viewed in the following
Link (Click Here)
DRA Selected as PFS Metallurgical Process Provider
The Company also advises that DRA AMERICAS INC ("DRA") is the successful bid under a request for proposal (RFP) for Pre-feasibility Metallurgical Testing
and Process Plant Design for the Thunder Bay North Project. The DRA team has reviewed the existing and historical metallurgical testing results and marketing
studies culminating in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) by Nordmin Engineering, the technical report of which was filed on SEDAR on
January 12,
2022
. DRA will leverage existing knowledge on standard crush, grind, flotation process design and smelter payabilities into the next phase of testing and
metallurgical optimization, including amenability to hydrometallurgical recoveries of the main platinum, palladium, copper, nickel commodity suite with rhodium,
cobalt, gold, and silver byproducts.
Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)
The Company announced a comprehensive mine plan and cashflow model for both the Escape Deposit and Current Deposit as part of a PEA for the Current and
Escape PGE-Cu-Ni Deposits of the Thunder Bay North Project on
December 1, 2021
. The related Technical Report was filed on SEDAR on
January 12, 2022
https://cleanairmetals.ca/site/assets/files/5750/21015-01-pfs-0000_ni_43_101_pea_12jan2022.pdf
Table 1: New Insitu Assay Results Update – Escape South Sail-Zone Extension (Figure 1)
Hole ID
Company
From,
m
To, m
Length,
m
Pt+Pd
(ppm)
Cu+Ni
(%)
Pt
(ppm)
Pd
(ppm)
Cu (%)
Ni (%)
ELR22-109
AIR
218.5
221.5
3.0
1.36
0.44
0.63
0.74
0.26
0.19
ELR22-109
AIR
224.5
229.4
4.9
1.52
0.48
0.71
0.81
0.27
0.21
ELR22-122
AIR
385.3
396.3
11.0
2.82
0.76
1.29
1.53
0.54
0.23
ELR22-136
AIR
334
336
2.0
1.04
0.40
0.42
0.62
0.22
0.18
ELR22-136
AIR
356
362
6.0
1.65
0.44
0.74
0.91
0.28
0.17
ELR22-137
AIR
333
347
14.0
1.21
0.42
0.53
0.68
0.23
0.19
ELR22-137
AIR
361
400
39.0
2.64
0.77
1.17
1.47
0.49
0.27
*incl.
391
398
7.0
5.72
1.40
2.53
3.19
1.02
0.38
ELR22-137
AIR
404.4
404.83
0.4
6.97
2.97
3.09
3.88
1.69
1.28
ELR22-137
AIR
410
416
6.0
1.97
0.64
0.90
1.07
0.41
0.22
ELR22-138A
AIR
377
385
8.0
1.55
0.44
0.70
0.85
0.29
0.15
ELR22-138A
AIR
393.8
394.8
1.0
2.09
0.77
0.88
1.21
0.44
0.33
ELR22-138A
AIR
528.4
531.5
3.1
1.57
0.71
0.72
0.85
0.42
0.29
ELR22-139
AIR
383
399
16.0
4.21
1.39
1.83
2.38
0.88
0.51
*incl.
385
391
6.0
6.11
2.03
2.63
3.48
1.28
0.75
ELR22-140
AIR
385
410
25.0
4.58
1.46
2.01
2.57
0.94
0.52
Note:
1) All intercepts are estimated to be >95% of true width based on drill hole inclination
2) Mineralized intervals calculated at 1 ppm Pt+Pd cutoff
3) Metallurgical recoveries estimated at 95% Copper; 85% Sulphide Nickel (52% total Ni); 87% Palladium; 82% Platinum
Abraham Drost
, CEO of Clean Air Metals
stated that "we are very pleased to have made the second to last
C$1.5 million
payment to Panoramic Resources of
Australia
. As Rio Tinto has already been fully paid, the last payment to Panoramic Resources will result in fully vesting the Option-Purchase Agreement with
Benton Resources Inc. and owning the project 100%, subject to royalty considerations.
The appointment of DRA Americas for metallurgical and marketability optimization of feed material from both the Current and Escape deposits, marks the onset of
prefeasibility studies at the Thunder Bay North Project. This is an exciting moment in the life of the project which could see the publication of a full prefeasibility
study of ramp-access underground mining at the Current and Escape deposits by Q2 of 2023. Ongoing exploration drilling for massive sulphides and infill drilling to
improve mine design will proceed apace with regular updates through 2022.
Recent infill drilling on the margins and extension of the Escape South High Grade Zone (HGZ) continues to deliver impressive assay results. The Escape South
HGZ (>5g/t Pt+Pd) is identified as a high value potential mining area at the base of the Escape Deposit contributing feed to the mill at Year 4.5 of the PEA mine
plan, pursuant to the recently delivered PEA technical report (filed
January 12, 2022
).
An approximate total of
54,000m
of previously reported additional drilling results from the Escape Deposit in 2021 and additional infill drilling on the PEA mine plan
in 2022 will form part of an updated mineral resource expected for the Thunder Bay North Project in Q4/2022 to support prefeasibility level mine design. Assay
results to date suggest good continuity of mineralization between sections along the
900m
trend of mineralization between the Escape South HGZ and Escape
North Zone where the PEA Escape deposit underground ramp development encounters Escape Deposit mineralization at approximately
200m
vertical depth."
(Figure 1).
Figure 1: New Drill Hole Intercepts in the Escape Deposit Area (link)
https://cleanairmetals.ca/site/assets/files/5799/elr_20220525_v3.png
COVID Policy
Clean Air Metals continued to apply COVID-19 avoidance and personal protection measures for its geological staff, drilling contractor and service suppliers.
Personnel are required to self-monitor and self-isolate or elect to work from home. The Company closely follows Provincial Government COVID guidelines.
Qualified Person
Dr.
Geoff Heggie
, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and Vice President - Exploration for the Company, has reviewed and
approved all technical information in this press release.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
Clean Air Metals uses ALS Global ("
ALS
"), a well-established and recognized mineral assay and geochemical analytical services company. The
Thunder Bay
laboratory holds ISO-9000 accreditation; the
Vancouver
facility holds ISO-17025 registration.
All NQ-sized drill core is cut with a diamond-tipped saw blade with half of the core submitted to ALS for sample preparation and analysis. Core samples from
selected intervals are individually bagged and tagged, gathered up in larger sealed poly bags and shipped to the sample prep facility in
Thunder Bay, ON
under
custody of Clean Air Metals' personnel at all times. Sample preparation is completed at the ALS sample preparation facility located in
Thunder Bay, ON
and
analysis is completed at the primary ALS assay laboratory located in
Vancouver
, B.C.
Clean Air Metals follows a documented quality control procedure for its core assay sampling program consisting of the insertion of blind blanks, duplicates, and
certified Palladium-Platinum and Copper-Nickel standards into the sample stream. The insertion procedure results in a minimum of 11% to 12% control sample
frequency depending on the length of the sampled interval.
Gold, platinum, and palladium are analyzed using fire assay (FA) with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) finish. Samples with grades
above the optimal ICP-MS detection limits are analyzed using an optical emission spectroscopy method (ICP-OES).
Also, thirty-three (33) elements of each sample, including copper, nickel, silver, chromium, cobalt, and sulphur, are analyzed by a multi-element analytical method
using the atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) technique following four-acid digestion of the sample. When samples have grades above the optimal detection
limits for this analytical method, they are re-analyzed using a high-grade method consisting of either ICP-AES or atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS)
techniques.
Social Engagement
Clean Air Metals Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Panoramic PGMs (
Canada
) Ltd. acknowledge that the Thunder Bay North Project is on the traditional
territories of the Fort William First Nation, Red Rock First Nation and Biinjitiwabik Zaaging Anishinabek. The parties together are the Cooperating Participants in a
Memorandum of Agreement dated January 9, 2021 (press release
January 11, 2021
) and Exploration Agreement signed
April 13, 2022
(press release
April 14,
2022
).
The Company appreciates the opportunity to work in these territories and remains committed to the recognition and respect of those who have lived, traveled, and
gathered on the lands since time immemorial. Clean Air Metals is committed to stewarding Indigenous heritage and remains committed to building, fostering and
encouraging a respectful relationship with First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples based upon principles of mutual trust, respect, reciprocity and collaboration in the
spirit of reconciliation.
About Clean Air Metals Inc.
Clean Air Metals' flagship asset is the 100% owned, high grade Thunder Bay North Project, a platinum, palladium, copper, nickel project located near the City
of Thunder Bay, Ontario and the Lac des Iles Mine owned by Impala Platinum. The Thunder Bay North Project hosts the twin magma conduit bodies which host
the Current and Escape deposits forming the basis for a robust preliminary economic assessment PEA) filed
January 12, 2002
. The PEA of a ramp access
underground mine and on-site 3600tpd milling complex and the 2-year trailing average price deck, features a pretax NPV5 of
C$425m
and an IRR of 31% on initial
capital of
$378m
over a 10-year mine life.
Executive Chair Jim Gallagher and CEO Abraham Drost lead an experienced technical team who are using the Norilsk magma conduit stratigraphic and mineral
deposit model to guide ongoing exploration and development feasibility studies for a low-carbon, all-electric sustainable mining operation at Thunder Bay North. As
the former CEO of North American Palladium Ltd. which owned the Lac des Iles Mine prior to the sale to Impala Platinum in December 2019, Jim Gallagher and
team are credited with the mine turnaround and creation of significant value for shareholders.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
"Abraham Drost"
Abraham Drost
, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Metals Inc.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note
The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including statements regarding the
potential of the Thunder Bay North Project and the Escape and Current deposits and timing of technical studies including prefeasibility studies and updated mineral
resource estimates. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of
amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or
performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and
uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: political and
regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and
liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and
uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of
production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future
exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks
and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of
these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-
looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of
the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with
applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projection.
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https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clean-air-metals-reports-drill-results-and-corporate-update-including-project-payment-and-prefeasibility-kickoff-around-metallurgical-optimization-301555714.html
SOURCE
Clean Air Metals Inc.
View original content:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2022/26/c3724.html
%SEDAR: 00005465E
For further information:
Abraham Drost, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Metals Inc., Phone: 807-252-7800, Email: [email protected], Website:
www.cleanairmetals.ca
CO: Clean Air Metals Inc.
CNW 06:00e 26-MAY-22