First Phosphate Corp. (CSE:PHOS) has reported promising initial assay results from its ongoing drill program at its Bégin-Lamarche phosphate project in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Quebec.
The company reported results from the first 3,394 meters of its 25,000-meter drill program. It said a total of 10,000 meters have been drilled to date, with assay results from 6,606 meters expected to be released in the coming weeks as they become available.
It said it has drilled nine holes to date in the Phosphate Mountain Zone which have intersected high apatite-bearing peridotite visually containing from 30% to 80% apatite over widths of up to 43 meters. Anotehr drill hole intersected 70% apatite over a length of 1 meter.
First Phosphate highlighted that apatite is common as an accessory mineral in igneous and metamorphic rocks where phosphate is found and was recently added to the Critical and Strategic Minerals List of Quebec, in addition to being recognized as a critical mineral by jurisdictions such as the European Union and South Korea.
At the Northern Zone, drilling intersected 9.89% P2O5 (phosphate) over 42.80 meters starting at a depth of 74.20 and another intersected 9.44% P2O5 over 89.10 meters starting at a depth of 6.90 meters.
Highlights from the Northwestern Zone included drill holes BL-24-49 and BL-24-54, which intersected 20 meters and 40 meters of peridotite, respectively visually containing 30% apatite.
At the Southern Zone, drill hole BL-24-24 intersected 5.22% P2O5 over 129.60 meters starting at a depth of 61.30 meters, while drill hole BL-24-35 intersected a new higher-grade layer of 7.82% P2O5 over 22.40 meters starting at a depth of 165.10 meters.
"We are impressed by the high-grade nature and volume of the phosphate layers being defined at Bégin-Lamarche," First Phosphate CEO John Passalacqua said in a statement.
"Bégin-Lamarche is showing increased open-pit surface feasibility in an area of developed infrastructure with direct paved-road access to the deep-sea port of Saguenay at only 70 kilometers away."
Shares of First Phosphate traded higher on the news, adding 9% at C$0.24 in early trade on Tuesday.
First Phosphate is a mineral development company fully dedicated to extracting and purifying phosphate for the production of cathode-active material for the lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery industry.