05:23:44 EDT Tue 22 Oct 2024
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Li-FT Power Ltd
Symbol LIFT
Shares Issued 39,426,677
Close 2024-05-01 C$ 3.32
Market Cap C$ 130,896,568
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Li-FT identifies spodumene-in-till anomaly at Pontax

2024-05-02 10:13 ET - News Release

Mr. Francis MacDonald reports

LIFT DEFINES 13 KM BY 6 KM SPODUMENE-IN-TILL ANOMALY AT THE PONTAX LITHIUM PROJECT, QUEBEC, AND UPDATES ON OTHER QUEBEC EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES

Li-FT Power Ltd. has released results from its summer 2023 exploration program at the Pontax project and the Rupert project, both in the James Bay region of Quebec. Pontax comprises 100-per-cent-owned ground and ground under option agreement with Harfang Exploration Inc.

The summer 2023 surface exploration program comprised geologic mapping, prospecting and glacial-sediment (till) sampling. Till samples were processed to look for spodumene grains within the till. The results at Pontax revealed a 13-kilometre-by-six-kilometre anomaly that has spodumene grain counts similar to till down ice of the Whabouchi lithium deposit, located approximately two km northeast of Li-FT's sampling. Additional spodumene anomalies were defined on the Rupert property where, importantly, background values have been well defined.

Francis MacDonald, chief executive officer of Li-FT, comments: "The size and strength of the Pontax spodumene anomaly is very impressive. We understand the expression of a large spodumene resource in till from our sampling results down ice of the Whabouchi lithium deposit. The anomaly that we have defined at Pontax has similar amounts of spodumene grains in till, but we are seeing this anomalism over a 13 km by six km area in comparison to a four km by one km area down ice of Whabouchi. The implication of this is that we believe there is potential for a large spodumene pegmatite dike swarm buried beneath extensive glacial sediments in the Pontax area. The next exploration program will be tailored to narrowing this large area down to drill targets."

Discussion of till sampling program

Till sampling for geochemistry or indicator minerals has been used extensively in Canada and other regions previously covered by glaciers to make a number of discoveries beneath the transported sediment cover (such as Rainy River (gold), Ekati (diamonds), East Kemptville (tin), Regnault (gold), Casa Berardi (gold), Blackwater (gold)). In addition to new discoveries, many orientation surveys have been completed over previously discovered deposits that suggest a till sampling program would have been a successful methodology if employed during early exploration phases (such as Meliadine (gold), Madrid (gold), Strange Lake (rare-earth element -- beryllium), Lac des Isles (platinum group elements)).

The Pontax project is located within an area that was inundated by the Tyrell Sea at the end of the last glaciation period. The surficial sediment cover in the project area consists of till overlain locally by Tyrrell Sea mud and reworked locally by littoral processes during subsequent regression of the sea. Thick postglacial organic wetland deposits cap the succession locally. The till has a silty sand matrix, contains abundant locally sourced igneous and metamorphic clasts, and is ornamented by various types of streamlined landforms that trend southwest-northeast, including drumlins, crag-and-tails and tongue-shaped landforms. Till samples were collected from topographic highs where till outcrops can be found penetrating through the blanket of glaciomarine mud found in the lowlands.

The Rupert-Pontax spodumene grain count sampling program was designed to test areas with anomalous till geochemistry for lithium (see press release dated Nov. 9, 2022). Samples were spaced at roughly 800 metres by 200 metres on the Rupert sampling grid, and at Pontax sample spacing along the line was 200 metres with sampling being taken where possible on topographic highs due to glaciomarine clay filling topographic lows. Ten kilograms of till was collected from each sampling site and sent to Overburden Drilling Management for processing and spodumene grain counts.

Additional surface work completed in 2023

In addition to spodumene grain counts, Li-FT collected 1,654 rock samples which returned lithium values of up to 0.56 per cent lithium oxide (located within the Pontax project). These values are not economic but are highly anomalous and indicate that a spodumene pegmatite system could be nearby. Anomalous values of tantalum, cesium, beryllium and tins are associated with increased lithium values, especially in the Pontax area. One spodumene-bearing boulder was found within the spodumene grain anomaly down ice of Whabouchi that returned 1.77 per cent Li2O. This boulder is assumed to be transported from the Whabouchi deposit onto Li-FT's claim package and suggests that spodumene grains have also been transported from Whabouchi.

A total of 5,700 C-horizon matrix till geochemistry samples were collected on newly acquired claims and areas not sampled in 2022. Till geochemistry was used to vector into areas for additional sampling testing for the presence of spodumene grains within till.

A VTEM (versatile time-domain electromagnetic) magnetics survey was completed to the northeast of Power Nickel's Lion zone target. Power Nickel intersected 7.75 metres at 20.76 grams per tonne platinum, 5.71 g/t palladium, 1.47 per cent copper, 13.1 g/t silver, 0.28 g/t gold hosted within an ultramafic intrusive rock approximately 600 metres from Li-FT's claim boundary (see Power Nickel press release dated May 10, 2023). The same ultramafic intrusive lithologies are present on Li-FT's claims. Processing of the VTEM magnetics survey has defined conductive-magnetic bodies at depth which could be a massive sulphide target similar to Power Nickel's Wildcat discovery. Li-FT is evaluating options to advance the target.

Update on drilling completed in 2023

During the summer of 2023, Li-FT completed 12 diamond drill holes (4,069 metres) to test lithium (plus/minus tantalum-tin-niobium) anomalies in till geochemistry to the north of the Whabouchi lithium deposit (anomalies A and B; see press release dated March 29, 2023). All drill holes encountered granitic rocks with lithium values between 100 and 300 parts per million, pegmatites with negligible lithium values, and mafic dikes that have are slightly enriched in lithium (300 to 700 ppm). No significant spodumene pegmatites were intersected and no additional drilling is warranted in that particular area.

About the Pontax option

Under the terms of the option agreement with Harfang, Li-FT can acquire up to a 70-per-cent interest in the project by completing remaining scheduled cash payments totalling $100,000 and remaining exploration expenditures totalling approximately $4.5-million by July, 2028. Harfang will then have the option of converting its remaining participating interest of 30 per cent into a 2.5-per-cent net smelter return royalty or to form a joint venture to further explore the property.

Quality assurance/quality control sampling protocols

Ten kg till samples: Till samples were shipped to Overburden Drilling Management (ODM) in Ottawa, Ont., for processing by panning and a shaking table to produce heavy mineral concentrates, ODM further refined the concentrates using heavy liquid separation to produce mid-density concentrates which it then picked for indicator minerals. Representative spodumene and other minerals are checked using a scanning electron microscope to confirm identification. ODM removes a 300-gram archival split for each sample.

Rock samples and drill core: Sample preparation and analytical work for this drill program were carried out by Bureau Veritas in Vancouver, Canada. Samples were prepared for analysis according to BV method PRP70-250: individual samples were crushed to 70 per cent passing through two-millimetre (10 mesh) screen; a 250-gram subsample was riffle split and then pulverized such that 85 per cent passed through 75-micron (200 mesh) screen. A 0.25-gram subsample of the pulverized material was then dissolved in a four-acid solution and analyzed for 59 elements according to BV method MA250. Any samples that returned overlimit values for lithium (that is, greater than 2,000 ppm) were analyzed with BV method PF370 where a two-gram subsample is digested with sodium peroxide fusion and analyzed with a inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy finish. All results passed the QA/QC screening at the lab, all inserted standards and blanks returned results that were within acceptable limits.

Till geochemistry samples: Till geochemistry samples were collected from between 20 and 80 centimetres below surface, from the C-horizon of the till. Approximately one kilogram of material was collected from each sample site and shipped to Bureau Veritas (BV) in Timmins, Ont., for preparation. Samples were prepared for analysis according to BV method SS230 whereby individual samples were sieved to isolate the minus-230-mesh (minus 63 microns) fraction. Samples were analyzed at BV in Vancouver, B.C., with BV methods MA250 (four-acid digestion with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry finish) for multielement data (0.25-gram split is heated in HNO3, HClO4 and HF to fuming and taken to dryness). A 30-gram split was analyzed with BV method AQ130 (aqua regia with ICP-MS finish) for gold analysis.

Qualified person

Don Cummings, PGeo (OGQ No. 2183), independent consultant to Li-FT Power, qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.

About Li-FT Power Ltd.

Li-FT is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of lithium pegmatite projects located in Canada. The company's flagship project is the Yellowknife lithium project located in Northwest Territories, Canada. Li-FT also holds three early-stage exploration properties in Quebec, Canada, with excellent potential for the discovery of buried lithium pegmatites, as well as the Cali project in Northwest Territories within the Little Nahanni pegmatite group.

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