Solstice Gold Corp. (TSX-V:SGC) has released encouraging findings from the 2023 exploration program at its Stewart Lake Project (SLP) located in the English River Subprovince in Northwest Ontario.
The comprehensive exploration effort utilized road, boat, and helicopter-based prospecting traverses, coupled with an initial soil survey.
The company noted that over 350 pegmatites have been delineated through 2023 prospecting and historical drilling and are widely distributed across the property. This pegmatite abundance, coupled with fertile mineral assemblages and elevated lithium indicators, suggests a significant potential for spodumene mineralization, particularly in the eastern and southeastern regions of the project area.
Solstice CEO Pablo McDonald expressed confidence in the project's potential, stating: “Our district-scale SLP project contains an extensive, fractionated pegmatite field in an attractive structural setting. By analogy to the history of known lithium districts in Ontario, we believe that the potential for discovery of lithium mineralization at SLP is high.”
The exploration program identified a sub-domain boundary zone, defined by major faults, where structurally distinct granite–migmatite terrains juxtapose. This boundary zone, especially in the southeastern part of the project area, displayed the most promising geochemical signatures and fractionated pegmatites. Solstice plans to focus its exploration efforts on the 14 km target area within this region.
“Our first pass exploration of this district-scale project has been very successful and confirms a newly-identified area of fertile pegmatites in a permissive structural setting which we believe demonstrates good potential for lithium discovery," Solstice chairman David Adamson added.
"Our analysis of project data suggests that SLP is geochemically similar to other evolved pegmatite districts in Ontario that were subsequently found to host spodumene mineralization. Our goal is to replicate this success as we vector towards discovery.”
The geochemical analysis, utilizing LIBS and whole rock geochemistry, showed favorable comparisons with established pegmatite districts, specifically the Quetico Subprovince and the Allison Batholith areas. Notably, elevated lithium in alkali feldspar and fractionated K/Rb ratios were identified, reinforcing the positive indicators for potential spodumene mineralization.
Moreover, a soil survey revealed elevated multi-element anomalism (Li-Rb-Cs-Nb-Be) adjacent to exposed pegmatites, providing new exploration targets. Strong anomalies were identified in overburden-covered areas, highlighting the utility of soil surveys in identifying additional pegmatite targets.