Usha Resources Ltd (TSX-V:USHA) said it has made the second acquisition of its planned expansion into the hard-rock pegmatite space in a continuation of its strategy to build an accretive portfolio complementary to its 100%-owned flagship Jackpot Lake Lithium Brine Project.
The company said it has executed an option with 2758145 Ontario Ltd., Peter Gehrels, and Allan George Onchulenko for the right to purchase The Nym Property, an undivided 100% interest in eight unpatented mining claims located in the Thunder Bay Mining Division of Ontario. Located near Atikokan, Ontario, the property is contiguous with the White Willow Lithium-Tantalum Property recently acquired by Usha and expands the existing 712 claim block to a total of 720 claims, adding 170 hectares to the 15,510 hectares the company has already optioned.
“We are very pleased to add the Nym Project to our growing portfolio of hard-rock lithium assets,” said Deepak Varshney, CEO of Usha Resources in a statement. “This property, collectively with White Willow, presents a unique and timely opportunity to capitalize on the rapidly growing lithium market in Canada. We believe this project has the potential to join an emerging group of Tier-1 projects in Ontario such as the Seymour Lake Lithium Project, the Georgia Lake pegmatite field, and the Separation Rapids Lithium deposit, and we look forward to beginning exploration work shortly with the goal of drilling White Willow and Nym in 2023."
READ: Usha Resources makes first acquisition of planned expansion into hard-rock lithium space
The Nym Property is located approximately 500 metres (m) along strike from the Maple Leaf Dike on the White Willow Property which is confirmed to host a fertile lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) system with samples assaying as high as 0.5% Li2O and 14.64% Ta2O5 in and around the dike with coarse-grained tantalite present. Coarse-grained tantalite is only known to be found at one other locality in Ontario which is the North Aubrey pegmatite at Green Technology Metals (GT1) Seymour Lake Project where GT1 has identified a 9.9 million ton resource at 1.04% Li2O.
Similar to White Willow, the property is under-explored, with only three of 119 mapped pegmatites reported to be present by Bandore Resources, the former owners of the property, assessed in the limited modern exploration completed to-date. The assessed pegmatites, however, have been confirmed to be white pegmatites with highly anomalous lithium up to 520 parts per million (more than 50 parts per million is considered anomalous).
Furthermore, drilling conducted for precious and base metals has identified pegmatite intersections as thick as 40m, suggesting that similar to the White Willow Property, the Nym Property pegmatites may also be highly fractioned LCT-pegmatites that bear spodumene and other LCT-minerals, particularly as they are located 500m away on trend from the Maple Leaf Dike.
Under the option agreement, the company may acquire a 100% interest in the Nym property by paying a total of $100,000 and issuing an aggregate of 600,000 common shares in the capital of the company
Usha has granted to each of the vendor and assignor a 2% net-smelter returns royalty (NSR). The company may purchase two-thirds of the NSR from the vendor and assignor at any time for consideration of $1,000,000.
The option agreement remains subject to the approval of the Toronto Venture Exchange.
Usha Resources is a North American mineral acquisition and exploration company focused on the development of quality battery and precious metal properties that are drill-ready with high-upside and expansion potential.
Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Usha’s portfolio of strategic properties provides target-rich diversification and consists of Jackpot Lake, a lithium project in Nevada; White Willow, a lithium project in Ontario; Nicobat, a nickel‑copper‑cobalt project in Ontario; and Lost Basin, a gold-copper project in Arizona.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com