The company purchased the northern prospects in December from Canadian company Power Metals Corp and has been busy conducting fieldwork and defining drill targets before snowfall sets in.
Combining and layering multiple exploration techniques and outputs – including geological mapping, litho-geochemical sampling and airborne-magnetometry surveys – is expected to help refine higher-confidence targets around known large-scale spodumene-bearing outcrops.
Identifying LCT deposits
A mobile metal ion soil survey was selected for Gullwing-Tot Lakes due to its success in identifying lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite deposits, specifically when overlain by the glacial lacustrine overburden.
Critical engaged lithium consultant Coast Mountain Geological to provide field personnel and equipment for the two-week survey and collected 1356 glacial lacustrine overburden samples.
A maximum depth of 50 centimetres below the organic horizon was targeted, with each sample weighing approximately 300 grams.
The samples have been shipped from Critical’s core facility in Dryden to an SGS Laboratory in British Columbia.
Results are expected within two months.
Critical scheduled an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) magnetometry survey to be flown at low altitude across the entirety of the prospective LCT pegmatite corridor at Gullwing-Tot Lakes.
The survey is expected to conclude early next month with results expected in the new year.
Critical said high-resolution magnetic data collected from a stable and accurately positioned platform (such as a UAV) would support the production of detailed 3D models of the earth’s magnetic sources.
3D inversions of the data provide greater spatial precision than data from induced polarisation surveys and can include information such as depth to the source, dip of the body and the body’s overall shape and size.
The information can provide a tool for the drill targeting of magnetic sources, as well as non-magnetic bodies which may lie above or below in the stratigraphic sequence.
A LiDAR (light detection and ranging) survey has been completed across Gullwing-Tot Lakes and data analysis and modelling is ongoing.
The survey is designed to provide highly-accurate elevation models of the local terrain via a digital 0.5 metre elevation model and a digital surface model.
A high-resolution orthophoto was also captured to provide the aerial imagery of the properties to assess variable topography and incorporate it into future drillhole planning.
The Gullwing-Tot Lakes property comprises 358 individual claims totalling 75.18 square kilometres, located approximately 5.5km northeast of the Mavis Lake ‘Main Zone’.
Managing director Alex Cheeseman said the northern prospects remained promising targets.
“The northern prospects present an exciting opportunity to rapidly add to our growing resource base at Mavis Lake… the large spodumene-bearing outcrops identified in a clean, linear strike over 8 kilometres in length, represent an outstanding future drilling target,” he said.
“Comprehensive target generation and drill planning will ensure that we continue to extract the maximum value possible from every future drillhole over the coming year.”
