Canada Fluorspar (CVE:CFI) has unveiled a third set of drill results from its phase 3 diamond drilling program at its Grebes Nest property in Newfoundland, which the company says confirm that the West vein has a strike length of over 725 metres, an extension from the previous 425 metres.
The results, reported in a statement Tuesday from three drill holes in the western part of the Grebes Nest target, include hole GS-13-10, which intersected a vein structure with an average grade of 61.18% fluorspar over 9.12 metres, including 0.6 metres of lost core. Excluding the lost core, the vein has an average grade of 65.49% fluorspar over 8.52 metres.
The company said this hole tested the down dip extension of the Grebes Nest vein on the same plane as the drill holes reported last month, one of which intersected 89.58% fluorspar over 6.95 metres.
The other two holes reported today, GS-13-14 and GS-13-15, excluding the lost core, hit 53% fluorspar over 4.95 metres and 33.49% over 2.98 metres, respectively. These holes were located 100 and 200 metres, respectively, east along strike from holes reported in July.
The Grebes Nest vein is part of the company's St. Lawrence fluorspar project in Newfoundland, and lies about 4 km from the former Tarefare mine and less than 6 km from the former Blue Beach North mine, according to its statement.
The company has 41 known mineralized veins on its fluorspar assets in St. Lawrence, two of which – Blue Beach and Tarefare - have been drilled and vended into a partnership with French chemical giant Arkema, while drill rigs started working at its own Director Vein in January. After the rigs finished turning at Director, Canada Fluorspar moved on to Grebes Nest, with 5,000 metres of drilling planned on this vein by the end of the year.
With the Blue Beach and Tarefare veins now being reviewed under the partnership, the Canadian company is looking to unlock the potential value of the Director Vein, as well as the Grebes Nest Vein, this year through drilling.
Canada Fluorspar has said that ground geophysical survey results suggest that the Grebes Nest mineralized structure has the potential to extend for more than 4,000 metres along strike.
"These latest drill results confirming a strike length for the West Grebes Nest vein of over 725 metres is extremely encouraging", said president and CEO, Lindsay Gorrill, in the statement Tuesday.
"We remain confident that further drilling will extend the strike to 1.5 km as well as extend the vein down depth. Remaining drill holes are targeted to further interpret the vein along strike and down depth within the West Grebes Nest zone."
These latest holes intersected the Grebes Nest Vein at depths ranging from 40 metres to 125 metres vertically below surface, the company said. "The drill intersections also indicate very competent core and good continuity of mineralized material at depth," it added.
Fluorspar is used to reduce the amount of energy needed to produce aluminum, and is also used for photovoltaic solar panels, but the biggest application is fluoro chemicals – which are used in products ranging from air conditioners and refrigerants to lithium batteries and the material Gore-Tex. Consumption of the mineral is expected to reach 7 million tonnes by 2015, but there is currently no domestic supply in Canada or the U.S. as these two countries rely on Mexico, the second biggest producer after China – which is expected to become a net importer soon.
Historic mining operations on the St. Lawrence property produced more than 4.2 million tonnes of fluorspar during a 44 year continuous production from 1942 to 1977. Production resumed in 1986 and continued until 1991, when St. Lawrence Fluorspar reopened the nearby Blue Beach North Mine and processed 440,000 tonnes of ore from small open pits, one of which was located in a surface pillar at the Director Mine near the main shaft.
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