Assays from the first five holes of Li-FT Power Ltd.'s inaugural drill program at Yellowknife Lithium have begun to confirm what is apparent on the surface, this project east of Northwest Territories' capital city is home to globally significant quantities of lithium-rich pegmatites.

With the world demanding enormous quantities of lithium for electric vehicle batteries, Li-FT amassed a 141,572-hectare (349,832 acres) land package covering some of the most prospective targets found within the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province, a 9,600-square-kilometer (3,700 square miles) area that extends 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of NWT's capital city.

Li-FT has divided the 11 properties that make up its Yellowknife Lithium project into two groups – five properties in a road-accessible area immediately east of the NWT capital and a cluster of six properties about 50 kilometers (30 miles) further east.

In June, the company launched a 45,000-meter drill program focused on building an initial resource at the large outcropping pegmatites extending across the company's road-accessible group properties – Fi, Ki, Shorty, Big, and Nite.

The Fi Southwest and Fi Main pegmatite dykes that extend for roughly 3,300 meters across the Fi property are the first targets being drilled.

Assays from the first five holes drilled have confirmed the grades and widths of lithium mineralization historically tested over a more than 320-meter stretch of the Fi Southwest pegmatite to a depth of 150 meters.

"We are very encouraged with these first drill results at the Yellowknife Lithium Project," said Li-FT Power CEO Francis MacDonald.

Similar grades and widths

At around 16,075 meters, more than a third of Li-FT's 2023 Yellowknife Lithium drill program is slated to test the Fi Southwest and Fi Main pegmatite dykes that extend for roughly 3,300 meters across the Fi property.

Fi Southwest, the shorter but wider of the two dykes, extends for about 1,100 meters and averages about 21 meters thick on surface.

Then roughly 250 meters to the northeast, the Fi Main can be traced for about 2,200 meters along the surface. This dyke consists of two branching segments, each averaging 10 meters in width. Ten trenches cut across this portion of the dykes averaged 1.3% lithium oxide over 14.8 meters.

Five 230-kilogram bulk samples collected from the Fi property by Equinox Resources in the 1980s averaged 1.33% lithium oxide.

The first five holes drilled by Li-FT cut similar grades; highlights include:

• 35 meters averaging 1.3% lithium oxide in hole YLP0001.

• 39 meters averaging 1.43% lithium oxide in hole YLP0003.

• 33 meters averaging 1.39% lithium oxide in hole YLP0004.

• 79 meters averaging 1.13% lithium oxide in hole YLP0005.

"The widths and grades of lithium and spodumene intersected in these holes are similar to what was historically reported in the 1950s to 1980s," said MacDonald.

Testing eight pegmatites

So far, Li-FT has completed more than 9,250 meters of drilling in 56 holes and with the completion of a 49-person camp in the Hidden Lake area near its Fi, Ki, and Shorty properties, the company is increasing the number of drills turning.

The company currently has three diamond drills out targeting pegmatites on the Fi, Shorty, and Ki properties on the eastern end of its road-accessible group; two rigs mobilized to the Big East pegmatite on the west side of the group closer to Yellowknife; and is planning to add a sixth drill to test the Echo target on its further east group of properties in August.

Li-FT Power Ltd.

"Eight different pegmatites will be drilled this summer with 45,000 metres of drilling that will utilize six drill rigs," said MacDonald. "We believe that these initial drill results show that the YLP has excellent potential to become one of the next destinations in North America to define significant spodumene resources."

Further details of the targets being tested with Li-FT Power's 2023 drill program can be read at Li-FT launches drilling at Yellowknife in the June 9, 2023 edition of North of 60 Mining News.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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