Clean Air Metals Inc (CVE:AIR) (OTCQB:CLRMF) (FRA:CKU) has announced that, as it continues with a previously announced 45,000-meter diamond drilling campaign, it has started environmental baseline field data gathering in support of permitting for its Thunder Bay North project, a platinum, palladium, copper, nickel project in Ontario.
The company said DST, a division of Englobe Corp and NorthWinds Environmental, has been mandated to report on baseline data for hydrology (surface waters), hydrogeology (subsurface water table), noise, water quality, aquatic biology, wildlife biology, and potential for metals leaching and acid rock drainage.
In a statement, Clean Air Metals CEO Abraham Drost commented: "As the commitment to long-term environmental baseline data collection demonstrates, the company is committed to operating by the highest standards of environmental, social and governance factors.”
“Clean Air Metals is a leader among its peers in the junior mining exploration and development space. This starts from the ground up with staff field health and safety protocols. The company's comprehensive coronavirus (COVID-19) avoidance policy has been in place since February 2020 with zero incidence of infection among staff and service providers,” Drost added.
The company also said it had wrapped up a C$1.5 million installment payment to Australia’s Panoramic Resources Limited (PAN:ASX). On May 14, 2020, the company acquired a 100% interest in the Current Lake magma conduit deposit from Panoramic Resources for C$9 million, with a C$4.5 million down payment under a security interest.
The transaction included the sale of a 100% interest in Canadian subsidiary Panoramic PGMs (Canada) Ltd to Clean Air Metals under an option with Benton Resources. Panoramic PGMs (Canada) Ltd, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Clean Air Metals, owns 100% of the Current Lake deposit. Two equal payments totaling C$3 million are earmarked for May 2022 and later in May 2023.
“The security obligation may be retired in advance by payment in full at any time without penalty,” the company pointed out.
Clean Air Metals also noted that Woodlands Heritage Northwest will complete and report on Stage 1 and Stage 2 archaeology studies in the Escape Lake, Current Lake and Steepledge Lake Basins. In addition, metallurgical beneficiation and optimization studies of drill-derived bulk sample deposit material is ongoing at Blue Coast Research of British Columbia, it added.
The Clean Air Metals project hosts the Current Lake Deposit and magma conduit, and the company is actively exploring the Escape Lake Deposit, a twin conduit structure to the Current Lake Deposit.
The company said the Current Lake Deposit has an indicated mineral resource of 1,328,789 ounces of palladium equivalent (PdEq) at an average grade of 3.44 grams per tonne (g/t) PdEq in 11,999,177 tonnes.
The Escape Lake Deposit in turn has an overall indicated mineral resource of 505,369 ounces PdEq at 3.67g/t PdEq in 4,286,220 tonnes, and is geologically open along trend, Clean Air Metals added.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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