North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

North Arrow Minerals Inc. Feb. 27 announced it has acquired the option to purchase the Bathurst Inlet lithium property in Nunavut, shifting its diamond expertise into the highly demanded battery mineral sector.

With the southernmost mineral claim lying roughly 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from Sabina Gold and Silver's port facility servicing the Back River gold mine project, North Arrow's new lithium property covers a series of mapped and interpreted pegmatite intrusives approximately nine kilometers (5.6 miles) from tidewater at Bathurst Inlet.

On the opposite end, North Arrow's Oro Hope Bay gold property, as well as Agnico Eagle's Doris Gold mine, are found about 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the northeast of the northern part of the lithium property.

Entering into an agreement with Panarc Resources Ltd. to acquire 100% interest in the Bathurst Inlet property, North Arrow will reimburse staking costs of C$16,515, as well as issue 100,000 shares of its company shares within 15 days of receiving TSX approval and a further 500,000 shares prior to Sept. 30, 2023.

"Acquisition of the Bathurst Inlet property is part of North Arrow's ongoing strategic work with Panarc Resources to identify and acquire lithium pegmatite opportunities in the NWT and Nunavut," said North Arrow President and CEO Ken Armstrong. "Pegmatites have been known to occur in the Bathurst Inlet area for many decades. However, local bedrock mapping was at a scale where noting the locations, extent and mineralogy of these pegmatites was not practical, nor considered a priority."

Stipulations include Panarc retaining a 2% net smelter returns royalty on future mineral and metal production from the property with the condition of half royalty being purchased at any time for C$2 million.

In addition, North Arrow will issue another two million shares to Panarc within 15 days of the company's public disclosure of a mineral resource (any category) on the property.

"With the help of recent satellite imagery, we've been able to prioritize target areas for follow up detailed mapping and prospecting for lithium mineralization in early summer 2023," added Armstrong.

Already consisting of pegmatites that have been identified using remote sensing techniques, as well as a review of past bedrock mapping in the area, these pegmatites are considered prospective hard rock lithium targets due to their spatial and potential temporal relationship to Dixie Gold Inc.'s Torp Lake spodumene pegmatite on the west side of Bathurst Inlet.

Although pegmatites have been noted in the area by government mappers, they have not been evaluated for potential spodumene and related lithium mineralization.

Given this, North Arrow says next steps will include continued remote sensing work ahead of the 2023 field evaluation of prioritized outcrop areas to prospect for spodumene mineralization associated with the Bathurst pegmatite field.