The Ombabika Group has been assigned by Balkan Mining and Minerals to conduct drilling operations on Gorge Lithium. The final planning and mobilisation for the initial campaign over their Ontario lithium property is currently in progress.
Acquired ahead of the ASX’s lithium land rush into Canada, the early discovery of a large pegmatite field at Gorge prompted a doubling of BMM’s earn-in area, and exploration uncovered more fertile lithium territory.
Channel sampling results showed shallow and high-grade mineralisation, including 1.8 metres at 3.75 per cent lithium oxide and up to 6.8 per cent Li20 from rock chip sampling. Meanwhile, step-out sampling revealed heavily anomalous levels of lithium, caesium, and tantalum and defined broader targets for the maiden campaign.
Balkan Managing Director Ross Cotton said the appointment had further strengthened the relationship with its earn-in partner and was an essential step as it moves ahead with exploration efforts.
The Ombabika Group are highly experienced and bring a wealth of local knowledge of the Gorge Project together with the wider Thunder Bay district having worked with Ultra Lithium on its Georgia Lake and Forgan Lake projects,” Mr Cotton said.
“Being armed with local experience and the data obtained from the Company’s mapping, channelling and soil sampling programs, we are well positioned as we move into final planning for our inaugural drilling campaign in Ontario,” he added.
The inaugural campaign, incorporating data from mapping and sampling, is designed to systematically test outcropping targets at the Koshman and Nelson pegmatite showings for extensions at depth and along strike.
The campaign will then test for spodumene pegmatites at depth across 2.6 kilometres of prospective trend strike identified from recent sampling results.
Thunder Bay might not yet be as well-known as James but has likewise proven its allure for white gold. Rock Tech Lithium and Green Technology Metals expect to begin mining near Balkan’s projects soon, and one Canadian company plans to bring a lithium processor to the bay.
And BMM has more to explore, with drilling also planned for the Tango project as exploration begins over its newly acquired project at Barbara Lake.