ACME Lithium Inc (CSE:ACME, OTCQB:ACLHF) told investors that 3D modelling of QMAGT data of its southeastern Manitoba properties has confirmed initial targeting on the properties and delineated additional targets.
In an update on its 100%-owned Shatford and Birse Lake lithium projects, ACME said it designed its initial 2023 drill program using the basic responses in the vertical magnetic gradient (Bzz).
The company explained that in mid-2022 it contracted Dias Airborne coverage of the properties with the QMAGT system, the most advanced airborne magnetic system currently commercially available. The QMAGT survey collected 1,991 line-km of airborne full tensor magnetic gradiometer (FTMG) data with a sensor flown at a 65 metre (m) line spacing.
READ: ACME Lithium starts drilling at Shatford Lake project in Manitoba
Mira Geoscience Limited performed modelling of the FTMG data. After a preliminary interpretation, ACME said Mira performed a computationally intense Magnetic Vector Inversion (MVI) integrated with company and regional geological data. It said low contrast between the magnetic response of the pegmatites and their typical host lithologies limits the use of conventional magnetic surveys. However, it said the sensitivity of Dias Airborne's QMAGT system and Mira Geoscience's MVI modelling significantly alters this convention.
Highlights of the Mira modelling:
- The extensive glacial till cover is transparent to the QMAGT magnetic survey;
- The detailed FTMG data detects magnetite iron formation across the entire survey area and delineates the major G2 fold structures that envelope the Birse Lake pluton;
- Fine details in the vertical gradient (Bzz) adjacent to the Shatford Lake - Winnipeg River shear zone detect dilatant jogs and fold structures favourable for pegmatite intrusion;
- Magnetic low gaps in the high magnetic response of basalt and magnetite iron formation delineate probable pegmatite intrusion. A NE to ENE fracture set is evident across the entire span of the survey area, as detected in the Vertical Derivative (Bzz); and
- Vertical Derivative (Bzz) indicates that the path of the prolific Bernic Lake Shear Zone is more southerly than mapped in previous regional studies and more proximal to the company's property.
ACME drill targeting
ACME noted that Tanco gabbro, the Birse Lake granodiorite, and the Bernic Lake Formation volcanic rocks are contemporaneous and form a single volcanic and subvolcanic complex.
A G2 deformation event tightly folds the complex. During a later G3 event, the highly evolved, LCT-type Bernic Lake pegmatite group, including the Tanco pegmatite, was emplaced in the Bernic Lake Formation.
The company said North Bernic Lake, Tanco, and Shatford - Winnipeg River shear zones-controlled pegmatite intrusion during the final stages (G3) of regional deformation, forming shallow-dipping fracture sets perpendicular to the late, upright fold structures and steeply dipping northeast to east of northeast fracture zones.
The company said it targets these belt-scale structures. In particular, the highest priority targets occur at or adjacent to bends and jogs on these shear zones that are favourable for the structural dilation hosting pegmatite intrusion.
Taken together with the area geology, it said the priority areas for drilling are as follows:
- West Shatford area:
- Northeast and east-northeast lineaments and breaks in the magnetite iron-formation response correlate with the likely splays from the Bernic Lake Shear Zone that branch into the Shatford Lake - Winnipeg Lake Shear Zone, forming a broad area of dilatant structures. Nearby are known occurrences of beryllium-bearing pegmatites.
- Central Shatford area:
- Adjacent to the Tin Island pegmatite cluster, sub-parallel northeast trending magnetic low lineaments cross the Shatford Lake - Winnipeg Lake Shear Zone. Targets array along the shear zone where northeast lineaments occur.
- Southeast Shatford area:
- A substantial flexure in the Shatford Lake - Winnipeg Lake Shear Zone contains a broad zone of en-echelon magnetic responses, indicating splays and dilatant zones on the northeast side of the principal shear zone, representing a high-priority drilling target.
About Dias Airborne QMAGT survey
ACME noted that the QMAGT system is the most advanced airborne magnetic system currently commercially available. It uses super-conducting quantum technology in the form of SQUID sensors to measure the magnetic field more completely and with greater sensitivity.
The QMAGT system measures the full tensor magnetic gradients (FTMG), which measures all the directional information of the magnetic field, which cannot be measured with conventional magnetic systems. This FTMG data provides for much higher resolution imaging than conventional systems. Coupled with the low noise properties of the SQUID sensors that are more sensitive to very weak signals, the QMAGT system is sensitive to smaller or weaker geologic features missed by traditional total field magnetic systems.
ACME is well funded by strategic investors and positioned to complete its exploration and development objectives through the near term to provide a domestic supply of lithium to the US and Canadian markets.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com