Volta Metals Ltd (CSE:VLTA) CEO Kerem Usenmez joined Proactive to discuss the company's latest developments at the ZigZag property in Ontario.
Usenmez highlighted that their sampling program at ZigZag has not only tripled their strike length but also revealed exciting discoveries, including gallium, a key material for semiconductors and AI advancements
Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. Joining me now is Kerem Usenmez, the CEO of Volta Metals. Kerem, great to see you again. How are you?
Kerem Usenmez: I'm doing well, thank you. Thanks for having me.
Good to have you back. I know the company has some news today on the ZigZag property in Ontario. For those not familiar, this is one that you just acquired. Can you remind everyone a little bit about ZigZag?
This property is contiguous to our main project, Falcon West, where we had a discovery last year. ZigZag had one lithium showing in the center, and we didn’t know which system it belonged to. That caught our eye. By acquiring it, we’ve tripled our strike length. The channel sampling program we conducted after the acquisition in November confirms our strategy moving forward.
You took about 21 samples. You found a lot of different metals. Is that a positive?
It’s very positive. We discovered that the system is evolving, which indicates more discoveries along the seven kilometers and on the other side. To our pleasant surprise, we’ve also identified strategic elements like gallium, which is a major driver for semiconductors and AI advancements.
Do you view these metals the same way? Would you extract them together, or are there different processes involved?
We’ve discussed this with our technical advisor and compared our results to other projects worldwide. The grade is very high, and gallium extraction is mainly a byproduct of regular processing, so no extra steps are required. I have some sample rocks here, and the channel samples give us more confidence.
You mentioned plans for mapping, structural work, and geophysics. Is this the best approach for ZigZag right now?
I think we’ll do both. Most of the property hasn’t been walked yet, except for the discovery area. We’ll do that as soon as the snow melts. In the meantime, the property is permitted for drilling, and we might drill to understand the extent of it. We’ll also strip the surface to assess its size.
ZigZag is seven kilometers west of Falcon West. Are you able to apply your work at Falcon West to what you’re doing at ZigZag?
Exactly. The regional geology indicates that the structure is continuous. The greenstone belt and fracturing support this, so we’ll follow those trends. It’s the low-hanging fruit.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style