Benton Provides Update and Reminds Shareholders of January 20th Record Date for Vinland Lithium
Benton Provides Update and Reminds
Shareholders of January 20th Record Date for
Vinland Lithium
Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 16, 2025) -
Benton Resources Inc
. (TSXV: BEX)
("Benton" or the "Company") is pleased to provide its shareholders with a full corporate update as it
embarks on an exciting year in 2025.
Summary:
Company AGM will be held on March 6, 2025 to approve among other things, the spinout of
approximately 2 million shares of Vinland Lithium Inc. pro-rata to shareholders of record of the
Company as of January 20, 2025;
The Company continues to build on its 2024 exploration success at the Great Burnt Copper
Deposit and South Pond Gold Zone with drilling resuming in the coming days to complete 15,000
m of drilling planned for 2025;
New gold discovery made at the Company's newly acquired and 100% owned Dominion Lake
Gold-VMS Base Metal project located 21 km north-northeast of Calibre Mining Corp.'s Marathon
Deposit. Further prospecting and soil sampling is planned to trace out the new gold horizon along
with other potential targets;
The Company continues to hold 24.6 million shares of Clean Air Metals Inc., along with a 0.5%
NSR on their Thunder Bay North Project.
Drilling is currently underway at Thunder Bay North and
plans for a potential bulk sample are on the horizon; and
The Company will be in attendance at the upcoming Vancouver Resource Investment Conference
and looks forward to meeting with shareholders and conference attendees to discuss the
Company's projects and initiatives.
Vinalnd Lithium Inc. Spinout
The Company has filed Management Proxy Materials under its profile on sedarplus.ca for its annual and
special meeting of shareholders (the "
Meeting
"). The Meeting is currently set to be held March 6, 2025
in Vancouver, BC.
At the Meeting Benton shareholders will be asked to approve a special resolution
(two-thirds of votes cast) to reorganize Benton's share capital to facilitate a spin-out to shareholders of
record on January 20, 2025 of approximately 2 million of Benton's 4 million shares of Vinland Lithium Inc.
("Vinland"). The Meeting was initially set for January 8, 2025 (See PR Nov 25, 2024) however, the date
had to be rescheduled as a result of the Canada Post strike. Vinland holds the Killick Lithium Project
which is currently owned by Benton (40%), Sokoman Minerals Corp. ("Sokoman") (40%) and Piedmont
Lithium Newfoundland Holdings LLC (Piedmont") a wholly owned subsidiary of NASDAQ listed
Piedmont Lithium Inc. (20%).
Sokoman will concurrently seek approval of its shareholders for a similar 2
million share spin-out. Subject to completion of the two spin-outs, the TSX Venture Exchange has
conditionally agreed to list the approximate 10 million issued and outstanding shares of Vinland of which
approximately 40% will be in the hands of Benton and Sokoman shareholders.
The spin-outs will be substantially pro rata to Benton and Sokoman shareholders however the exact ratio
of Vinland shares per Benton shares will be determined prior to completion, expected to occur in the
weeks following the meeting in March 2025. The exchange ratio is dependent on the number of Benton
shares issued at the time of completion. The ratio is expected to be approximately 50 Vinland shares
per 5,000 Benton shares. Accounts holding less than 5,000 Benton shares (having an approximate $400
market value) will not receive Vinland shares as the immediate and ongoing administration and
compliance costs for very small odd-lot Vinland shareholders would be prohibitive.
Some of the key points for shareholders are as follows:
The Killick Lithium Project holds excellent discovery potential in a newly discovered lithium belt
Piedmont, a wholly owned subsidiary of NASDAQ listed Piedmont Lithium Inc., completed a 2023
financing in Vinland of CAD$2.0M @ CAD$1.00 per share to hold 19.9%
Piedmont Lithium Inc. is one of North America's leading lithium companies
Newfoundland is ranked as one of the top jurisdictions to explore and develop mineral resources
Piedmont Lithium Inc. has vast technical and geological knowledge in similar geology to that of
Kraken pegmatites
Vinland holds indirectly, through its subsidiary Killick Lithium Inc., a 100% interest in the Killick
Lithium Project
Piedmont will have the option to earn up to a 62.5% direct interest in Killick Lithium Inc. by
spending CAD$12.0M in exploration and development during the period of the option
Upon Piedmont completing all earn-in options Piedmont/Piedmont Lithium Inc. will have paid
Benton and Sokoman a total of CAD$10.0M in Piedmont Lithium Inc. shares in addition to having
funded all the Vinland exploration and development costs
Benton and Sokoman to collectively retain a 2% NSR on the Killick project
In addition to the spin-out resolution, Benton shareholders who attend the Meeting will attend to annual
matters including consideration of Benton's June 30, 2024 audited financial statements and the election
of directors and appointment of auditors.
Full details of the spin-out and the other annual matters are contained in a management information
circular that will be mailed to shareholder on or before February 4, 2025.
The
Killick Lithium Project
was first discovered in late-summer 2021 by Benton and Sokoman
personnel. The maiden drill program in 2022 resulted in the discovery of the Kraken Dyke which returned
8.4 m of 0.95% Li
2
0 in hole GH-22-01.
Further work in 2022-2023 resulted in the discovery of several
additional spodumene-bearing dykes including the Killick Dyke/East Dyke system where drilling has
returned 1.04% Li
2
0 over 15.23 m in hole GH-22-27 and 1.06% Li
2
0 over 16.7 m, including 1.22% Li
2
0
over 13.37 m in hole GH-23-46.
Several spodumene-bearing dykes remain untested by diamond drilling.
Large-scale regional geochemical surveys have outlined multiple lithium and tantalum in soil anomalies,
some of which are several kilometres in length. During the 2024 summer field season, Benton/Sokoman
completed an airborne geophysical magnetics and electromagnetics survey as well as field
geochemical surveys at the project.
Field geochemical and geological surveys consisted of prospecting,
geological mapping, soil sampling and basal till sampling.
Highlights of the program are presented
below:
A 4,854.3 km airborne Magnetics and VLF-EM (very low frequency electro magnetics) was flown
in April and May of 2024.
The survey area covered parts of the property not flown in the 2021
program.
The two data sets are now merged and provide complete coverage of the entire project.
Interpretation of the data has identified several anomalous areas for future exploration follow-up.
Prospecting has resulted in the identification of multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatite float
samples in the Kraken South area of the project.
Float samples range from angular to sub-rounded
and have returned assays to 1.97% Li20, with 11 samples assaying greater than 1.0% Li20.
Initial
basal till sampling in the area has confirmed spodumene grains in several samples.
The Kraken
South area is deemed high priority for follow-up evaluation.
Prospecting and soil sampling continue to expand anomalous areas of LCT pegmatite dyke
occurrences.
Areas such as Grandy's West and Top Pond Ridge are multi-kilometer anomalies
containing elevated lithium and tantalum in soils and rock samples. All areas that have anomalous
Li and Ta in soil contain pegmatite dykes in bedrock that further indicate high potential for the
discovery of LCT pegmatite dykes in the area.
Great Burnt Project
The Great Burnt Copper Gold Project, located approximately 54 km NW of the town of St Albans in
South Central Newfoundland, is ranked as one of the best mining and exploration jurisdictions in the
world. The project is accessible by an all-weather road which is maintained by the Government for
servicing of its hydro dam facilities, one of which is located on the Company's Great Burnt project.
Benton acquired the Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project from Homeland Nickel Inc
. ("Homeland") (formerly
Spruce Ridge Resources Ltd.) in September 2023. Benton paid $40,000 and issued 15 million shares
and completed $2.5 million in exploration to earn a 70% interest in the project. The Company provided
formal notice to Homeland in July 2024 that it had completed all earn-in requirements for the 70%
interest and from such time, Benton and Homeland have entered into a 70%-30% joint venture with each
company funding their respective portion of expenditures, with Benton being the operator of the project.
Since acquiring the project 17 months ago, Benton has established a fully operational exploration camp,
completed extensive compilation of historical data, made several new surface discoveries though
prospecting, mapping and trenching, completed soil sampling, detailed ground magnetic surveys, two
deep electro-magnetic conductivity surveys and completed 18,492 meters of drilling substantially
expanding the Great Burnt Copper Deposit and the South Pond Copper Gold Deposit.
In addition, the Company has acquired several key land positions through staking and small option deals
resulting in a 25 km strike-length on the favourable structure and geology that host the current zones
within the Great Burnt Project.
To date, the Company has had immense success in expanding the Great Burnt Copper Deposit
("GBCD")
and also delineating approximately >3.0 km of Copper-Gold mineralization at the South
Pound Copper Gold Zone
(SPCGZ)
.
Highlights of the Great Burnt Project:
Large land position with over 25 km of potential mineralized structure and stratigraphy
World class, friendly mining and exploration district
Excellent infrastructure with maintained public roads
Hydro electric power within 2 km of the Great Burnt Copper Deposit
Wide high-grade intercepts of copper at the Great Burnt Deposit open for expansion
Large Gold-Copper system traced for >3.0 km at the South Pond Area open for expansion
New targets of Copper, Gold, Nickel and Zinc continuing to be identified for exploration follow up
A further 15,000 m drill program being planned for 2025
Further drill results pending and drilling to resume in coming days
Highlighted drill results from 2023-2024 programs:
GB-23-02:
13.00 m of 8.31% Cu, incl 3.00 m of 12.80% Cu
GB-23-04:
26.87 m of 7.18% Cu, incl 11.16 m of 10.28% Cu
GB-23-07:
12.30 m of 7.20% Cu, incl 7.00 m 10.60% Cu
GB-23-12:
25.42 m of 5.51% Cu, incl 1.00 m of 8.77% Cu, 82.00g/t Ag, 4.43g/t Au
GB-23-15:
22.59 m of 5.03% Cu, incl 0.50 m of 20.00% Cu
GB-23-16:
13.67 m of 5.80% Cu, incl 1.00 m of 20.60% Cu
GB-23-18:
8.17 m of 4.22% Cu, incl 7.05 m of 4.11% Cu
GB-23-21:
24.00 m of 5.81% Cu, incl 7.00 m of 11.47% Cu
GB-23-22:
21.68 m of 3.59% Cu, incl 2.00 m of 15.3% Cu
GB-24-23:
7.00 m of 2.02% Cu, incl 4.00 m of 3.01% Cu
GB-24-32:
11.29 m of 3.10% Cu, incl 6.63 m of 5.57% Cu
GB-24-33:
20.92 m of 2.26% Cu, incl 2.98 m of 4.17% Cu
GB-24-37:
18.10 m of 1.99% Cu, incl 4.50 m of 7.24% Cu
GB-24-40:
3.59 m of 3.47% Cu, incl 1.00 m of 4.52% Cu
GB-24-43:
3.73 m of 3.22% Cu
GB-24-45:
22.8 m of 1.23% Cu, incl 3.8 m of 2.21% Cu
Note: Widths quoted are core length, true widths are estimated at approximately 70% of core lengths
Figure 1: Long Section for Great Burnt Copper Deposit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3657/237417_429f45f134e48962_002full.jpg
Highlighted drill results for South Pond Copper-Gold Zone ("SPCGZ")
SP-24-01:
18.80 m of 1.13g/t, and 5.96m of 2.06g/t Au
SP-24-03:
43.75 m of 1.62g/t Au, incl 4.00 m of 3.99g/t Au
SP-24-07:
74.20 m of 1.43g/t Au, incl 8.00 m of 2.94g/t Au
SP-24-08:
14.00 m of 1.23g/t Au incl, 4.00 m of 2.33g/t Au
SP-24-09:
24.00 m of 1.48g/t Au, incl 7.00 m of 2.03g/t Au
SP-24-10:
20.00 m of 1.04g/t Au, and
25.00 m of 1.54g/t Au
SP-24-12:
27.07 m of 1.08g/t Au, incl 5.00 m of 2.11g/t Au
SP-24-13:
19.75 m of 1.42g/t Au, incl 4.00 m of 3.08g/t Au
SP-24-15:
22.50 m of 1.24g/t Au, incl 4.00 m2.08g/t Au
SP-24-23:
6.75 m of 2.90g/t Au
SP-24-28:
27.40 m of 1.00g/t Au, incl 3.00 m of 2.92g/t Au
SP-24-29:
25.70 m of 0.64g/t Au over, incl 3.00 m of 1.47g/t Au
SP-24-30:
8.00 m of 2.07g/t Au, incl 2.0 m of 4.83g/t Au
SP-24-32:
54.50 m of 1.88g/t Au, incl 14.00m of 2.41g/t Au
Note: Widths quoted are true core length, at this early stage, further drilling is required to determine true width of mineralization
Figure 2: Highlighted Property Map
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3657/237417_429f45f134e48962_003full.jpg
Dominion Gold VMS Project
In recent months,
Benton
announced that it had made a new gold discovery on its 100%-owned
Dominion Lake Gold-VMS Base Metal Project ("Dominion Lake")
. The Company acquired Dominion
Lake last year after a large parcel of land became available for staking within the northern Tulks Volcanic
Belt of the Victoria Lake Supergroup.
The Tulks Volcanic Belt is a highly favorable geological terrain with
demonstrated potential for hosting both Volcanogenic Massive Sulphides and Gold mineralization (see
figures 3 and 4 below).
A small prospecting program conducted in late summer 2024 on the recently staked Dominion Lake
claims resulted in the discovery of a 50 m wide sheared zone in contact with >12.0 m wide exposed
quartz-flooded and silicified zone that has been traced intermittently for approximately 120 m. The new
zone, named the Rickirb Zone, has returned grades as high as 4.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au). The
Company has collected a total of 30 grab samples within a 200 m area of the new zone, with 7 samples
grading greater than 0.5 g/t Au. The zone has a trend of 20 degrees and is situated 21 km north-
northeast of Calibre Mining Corp.'s Marathon Deposit.
In conjunction with the new gold discovery, the Company has executed an option agreement to acquire a
100% interest in several mineral licences from local prospector Herbert Froude (See PR dated
November 28, 2024). With the addition of Mr. Froude's licenses, the Company's land package surrounds
two known VMS deposits known as the Daniel's Pond deposit and Bobby's Pond deposit, which are
currently held by Canterra Minerals Corporation.
Benton is planning further prospecting and soil
sampling to trace out the new gold horizon along with other potential targets.
Figure 3: Dominion Lake Regional Map
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Figure 4: Dominion Lake Property Map
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Equity Holdings and Royalty with substantial upside:
Benton currently holds 24.6 million shares of Clean Air Metals ("Clean Air") and a 0.5% Net Smelter
Return (NSR) on the Thunder Bay North Project. Benton established Clean Air in 2020 (See PR January
10, 2020) through the purchase and option agreement of the Escape Lake Deposit from Rio Tinto and
the Thunder Bay North Deposit from Panoramic Resources. Clean Air has recently published a resource
estimate consisting of two disseminated sulphide resources included in the Thunder Bay North project.
These deposits host 14.0 Mt of underground mining shape constrained, bulk tonnage indicated
resources averaging 1.31g/t Pt, 1.37g/t Pd, 0.41% Cu and 0.25% Ni (
see Clean Air Metals
NI 43-101
Technical Report dated June 19, 2023
)
. In September and October of 2024, Clean Air released
numerous near-surface, high-grade sulphide zones which occur within or adjacent to the identified
resources at the Current Deposit. Clean Air's summer 2024 drilling program successfully demonstrated
the potential to expand the known high-grade areas inside the deposit through tighter drill spacing. (See
Clean Air PR dated September 10, 2024 and October 3, 2024)
Highlights of Clean Air drill results include:
51.79 m
of 4.92g/t Pt, 4.66g/t Pd, 1.07% Cu and 0.55% Ni (14.82g/t Pt.eq
1
; 4.71% Cu.eq
2
) from
86 m downhole in Hole CL24-001;
31.40 m
of 4.22g/t Pt, 4.04g/t Pd, 0.95% Cu and 0.56% Ni (13.04g/t Pt.eq
1
; 4.14% Cu.eq
2
) from
118 m downhole in Hole CL24-003;
50.7 m
of 4.52g/t Pt, 4.38g/t Pd, 0.99% Cu and 0.53% Ni (13.74g/t Pt.eq
1
; 4.36% Cu.eq
2
) from
82.0 m downhole in Hole CL24-010;
38.4 m
of 3.38g/t Pt, 3.26g/t Pd, 0.72% Cu and 0.45% Ni (10.32g/t Pt.eq
1
; 3.27% Cu.eq
2
) from
153 m downhole in Hole CL24-005;
23.3 m
of 4.54g/t Pt, 4.23g/t Pd, 1.11% Cu and 0.60% Ni (14.20g/t Pt.eq
1
; 4.51% Cu.eq
2
) from
154.7m downhole in Hole CL24-008;
19.3 m
of 3.61g/t Pt, 3.26g/t Pd, 0.79% Cu and 0.38% Ni (10.75g/t Pt.eq
1
; 3.40% Cu.eq
2
) from
150 m downhole in Hole CL24-006.
Notes
1
.
Platinum equivalent are calculated as follows: Pt.eq = (Pt grade/31.1035 x $982 + Pd grade x
31.1035 x 86.2% x $1,057 + Cu grade x 2204 x 95.9% x $4.27 + Ni grade x 2204 x 57% x 7.58 +
Au grade/31.1035 x 85% x $2,642 + Ag grade/31.1035 x 65.2% x $31.73) / $982 x 31.1035
2
.
Copper equivalents are calculated as follows: Cu.eq= (Cu grade x 2204 x $4.27 + Pt grade x
31.1035 x 80.6% x $982 + Pd grade x 31.0135 x 86.2% x $1,057 + Ni grade x 2204 x 57% x
$7.58 + Au grade/31.1035 x 85% x $2,642 + Ag grade/31.1035 x 65.2% x $31.73) / $4.27 / 2204
Equivalents are based on the following recoveries Pt 80.6%, Pd 86.2%, Cu 95.9% Ni 57%, Au 85%, Ag
65.2%; and metal prices from September 25, 2024 US Spot; Pt $982, Pd $1057, Cu $4.27, Ni $7.58,
Au $2642, Ag $31.73
Clean Air has recently commenced a 2000 m drilling program at its Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals
project ("TBN") (see PR dated January 7, 2025) and is currently preparing an application to move the
project to an "Advanced Exploration" status in the first stage of the Provincial mine permitting process.
The Company applied in July 2022 to convert some TBN property claims into a mineral lease. The
pending approval represents a critical step toward the potential extraction of a bulk sample.
The TBN project is 100% owned by Clean Air, located 40 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario and 65
km South of Impala's Lac des Ille palladium mine.
In addition to the above strategic investment in Clean Air, Benton holds a multitude of other projects,
equities and royalties which have been acquired over the years and these can be found on the Company
website
www.bentonresources.ca
and in its filings on
sedarplus.ca
.
QA/QC Protocols
Core and rock samples, including standards, blanks and duplicates, are submitted to Eastern Analytical
Ltd., Springdale, Newfoundland for preparation and analysis. All samples were acquired by saw-cut
(channels/drill core) with one-half submitted for assay and one-half retained for reference, or hand (rocks)
and delivered, by Benton personnel, in sealed bags, to the Springdale lab of Eastern Analytical, which is
an accredited assay lab that conforms to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Samples are analyzed
using Eastern's Au (Fire assay) @ 30g + ICP-34 method that delivers a 34-element package utilizing a
200 mg subsample totally dissolved in four acids and analyzed by ICP-OES analytical technique.
Overlimits are analysed with Eastern's atomic absorption method, using a 0.200 g to 2.00 g of sample,
digested with three acids. All reported assays are uncut. Eastern Analytical Ltd. achieved ISO 17025
accreditation in February 2014 (for more details on the scope of accreditation visit the CALA website).
QP
Stephen House (P.Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for Benton Resources Inc., the 'Qualified Person'
under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news
release and prepared or supervised its preparation.
About Benton Resources Inc.
Benton Resources is a well-financed mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange
under the symbol BEX. Benton has a diversified, highly prospective property portfolio and holds large
equity positions in other mining companies that are advancing high-quality assets. Whenever possible,
BEX retains net smelter return (NSR) royalties with potential long-term cash flow.
Benton is focused on advancing its high-grade Copper-Gold Great Burnt Project in central