Canada Fluorspar (CVE:CFI)(OTC:CNDFF) has released more drill results from the company's phase 3 drill program on its Grebes Nest property in Newfoundland, saying it has extended the strike length of the vein by a further 200 metres to over 925 metres.
The results, the fourth set released from the property under the program, consist of three drill holes on the west end, one of which is in the same plane as the previously reported hole last week, and intersected two veins.
One of these veins has an intersection with an average grade of 54.65% fluorspar over 4.21 metres and the second vein has an average grade of 43.88% fluorspar over 24.47 metres, including 2.9 metres of lost core.
The other two drill holes, GS-13-17 and GS-13-19, are located 100 metres and 200 metres, respectively, east along strike from hole GS-13-15, which was released earlier this month. Drill hole GS-13-19 intersected a vein structure having an average grade of 76.13% fluorspar over 4.58 metres. Excluding the lost core, the average grade increases to 81.46% fluorspar over 4.28 metres.
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 the company's statement.
"As expected, these latest drill results confirming the strike length for the West Grebes Nest vein to be over 925 metres extends our confidence that further drilling in Phase 3 will support a strike length of up to 1.5 km," said president and CEO Lindsay Gorrill, in a statement Monday.
"I am also encouraged by the fact that since the Grebes Nest Vein is hosted essentially by metasediments, rather than granite, the silica content is lower and blastonite, a brecciated fluorite in an admix of microcrystalline quartz and fluorite, is virtually absent.
"This should result in a coarser mill concentrate with lower silica content than formerly produced in St. Lawrence."
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, later moving on to Grebes Nest.
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 and Grebes Nest veins 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.
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.
So far, Canada Fluorspar has completed six phase 1 drill holes together with 26 additional drill holes in phase 2 and 26 drill holes in phase 3 as part of the 2013 exploration program. Assay results for remaining completed drill holes in phase 2 and phase 3 are still pending, the company said.
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.
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