On February 17, 2023, Stria Lithium announced promising assay results from the first two drill holes at depth on the Pontax Lithium Project.

Assays include 10.2 m (true width) at 1.34% Li2O, and a doubling of the depth of known mineralization to 230m. These results further confirm previous exploration activities on the site and are only the first results of 14 holes drilled to date, totalling 3,858 metres, as part of an aggressive 15,000-metre definition and exploration drilling program now under way on Stria’s Pontax property. A winter road has been opened from the main highway to the Pontax site, and mutiple drill rigs are now on site with the aim of establishing a maiden resource by mid–2023. Assays from the remaining 12 holes are currently pending at the laboratories.

The drilling program at Stria’s Pontax property is being financed and conducted by Stria’s project partner, Cygnus Gold Ltd. of Australia, and has been designed to systematically step out from known mineralisation at Pontax Central – an extensive spodumene-bearing pegmatite swarm which outcrops over 700m of strike.

Significant intersection results from the latest drilling include;

  • DDH975-22-027:
    • 2.82 m* (4.3m of core length) @ 1.84% Li2O** at a depth of 158 metres(from 227.6m to 231.9m)
    • 6.04 m* (9.21m core length) @ 1.44% Li2O** at a depth of 172 metres (from 247.1m to 256.3m)
    • Five (5) minor intervals of true width between 1.51m* and 2.02m* @ 0.84% to 1.46% Li2O**
    • Cumulative true thickness of mineralized  dyke of  4 metres
  • DDH975-22-028:
    • 3.44 m* (5.7m of core length) @ 1.35% Li2O** at a depth of 144 metres (from 194.3m to 200.0m)
    • 8.54 m* (13.3m of core length)  @ 1.34% Li2O** at a depth of 212 metres (from 300.2m to 313.5m)
    • Three (3) minor intervals of true width between 1.08m* and 1.55m* @ 0.67% to 0.82% Li2O**
    • Cumulative true thickness of mineralized  dyke of  9 metres

*: True thickness, assuming the dykes are dipping -85o to the NNW

**: Weighted average using a cut-off grade of 0.5% Li2O on spudumene dyke only, excluding lithium bearing wallrock (FeO > 5%), a minimum true thickness of 1 metre, no external dilution, and wallrock internal dilution set at 0% Li2O.

Drilling was conducted with a single heliportable rig by RJLL Drilling Co. from Rouyn-Noranda and supervised by IOS Services Geoscientifiques Inc. Collar location was measured with a high resolution GPS Geode device, while downhole deviation was measured with the use of a Reflex device. Core, NQ in diameter, has been logged on site and expedited by road carrier to IOS facilities in Saguenay, Quebec, for sampling and storage. Core samples were cut in half with a diamond saw, tagged and bagged to be shipped to SGS Lakefield laboratory by road carrier for preparation. Core samples were crushed (75% <2mm) and pulverized (85% <75μm). Assaying has been conducted by SGS Burnaby with the use of ICP-OES and ICP-MS after sodium peroxide fusion (GE_ICM91A50). SGS-Canada is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. Quality control has been monitored by an IOS certified chemist through the insersion of 7 sample blanks, 7 preparation blanks, 5 certified reference material Oreas-147, 4 certified reference material Oreas-148 and 5 certified reference material Orea-149, for a total of 28 insertions (15%).

Drilling

Dean Hanisch, CEO of Stria Lithium, said: “We are excitied to be finally getting an aggressivce drilling program at depth under way, and are very encouraged by the promising results of the first two holes of 14 drilled to date. The winter road is open and providing economical access to several additional heavy drill rigs. We look forward to reporting more assay results as they become available.”

The latest drilling has stepped out 50m to 100m below existing mineralisation to a vertical depth of 230m, effectively doubling the depth of known mineralisation which remains open in all directions.

Figure 1

Figure 1: Plan view of Pontax Central with the location of all drilling to date. Highlighting recent significant intersections including 8.54m @ 1.34% Li2O and 6.04 @ 1.44% Li2O

Figure 2

Figure 2: Cross section though Pontax Central looking towards the NE, showing both historic drillholes and the recent deeper drillholes completed by Cygnus with results recived to date, including 4.3m @ 1.8% Li2O and 16.5m @ 1.1% Li2O. Interval length expressed as true thickness and depth as vertical depth. The recent drilling is the deepest drilling on the project to date stepping out over 100m from exisiting drilling with mineralisation remaining open in all directions.

Historical Exploration

Historic work done on the property:

  • Prospecting and outcrop sampling
  • Geological mapping and airborne geophysical surveying
  • Mechanical trenching and channel sampling
  • Sample core drilling: drill hole 09-555-05 returned 0.97% lithium oxide (Li2O) over 21.0 m (core length), including 1.43% Li2O over 13.0 m (from 36.0 m to 49.0 m)1

2017 Drilling Program Highlights:

  • Stria launched its first full drilling program at Pontax in 2017;
  • Completed seven holes for a total of 911.4 m.
  • All seven holes intersected spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes grading from 0.65%Li2O to 2.49% Li2O over a min. of 1.0 m. The best intercept was 21.39m grading 1.16% Li2O in drill hole 975-17-0142.1

2020 Drilling Program Highlights:2

  • Eleven drill holes completed for a total of 1,510.5 m drilled
  • Ten (10) of the 11 holes intersected pegmatite dykes with significant spodumene mineralization
  • Hole 975-19-018 intersected 11.27 m grading 0.91% Li2O, including a subintercept of 2.84 m grading 1.72% Li2O
  • Hole 975-19-020 intersected 3.36 m grading 2.55% Li2O in, at a vertical depth of 13.58 m
  • Hole 975-19-016 intersected two bands of spodumene pegmatite dykes, the first grading 1.45% Li2O over 1.61 m and the second grading 1.11% Li2O over 2.10 m
  • Hole 975-19-022 intersected 3.89 m grading 1.28% Li2O at a vertical depth of 31.2 m, while Hole 975-19- 016 intersected 1.61 m grading 1.45% Li2O
  • The spodumene pegmatite dyke swarm at the Pontax LSPD prospect extends over a min. distance of 650 m and is open along strike to the northeast and at depth, while thinning out toward the southwest.

For more detailed section views of core samples from the 2020 drilling program, please see the Appendix of our corporate presentation.

Historic Drill Results from Central Pontax Pegmatite Swarm

  • Over 620m of strike extent on central outcrop area which remains OPEN under shallow cover
  • High-grade Lithium bearing pegmatites from surface tested to only ~ 115m
  • Open at depth and thickest intersection in historic drilling (15.6m @ 1.6% Li2O from 83.9m)
  • Walk up drill targets and resource definition drilling planned for immediate exploration programs

High-Grade Drill Results from Central Pontax Pegmatite Swarm

True thicknesses reported.
1 For more information, refer to Stria’s news release dated May 30, 2018
2 Refer to Stria news releases dated December 2, 2021, and January 10, 2022, for complete details. Significant mineralized intercepts are defined as Li2O > 0.5% over a min. true thickness of 1.5 m 

First pass drilling intercepted high-grade lithium spodumene including:

  • 9.0m @ 1.7%Li2O from 46.9m
  • 15.6m @ 1.6%Li2O from 83.9m
  • 4.8m @ 2.6%Li2O from 19.4m
  • 13.0m @ 1.4%Li2O from 36m
  • Results from recently completed LiDAR and magnetics has delivered numerous walk-up targets, including unmapped pegmatites
  • Metallurgical test work generated 6% spodumene concentrate using conventional processing techniques with potential tantalum byproduct with grades of up to 549 ppm Ta2O5 in drilling1