Clean Air Metals Inc (TSX-V:AIR, OTCQB:CLRMF) has posted encouraging drill assays from its Escape platinum group metals, copper, nickel deposit at its Thunder Bay North project in Ontario, Canada.
Highlights from this year's drill campaign at the Escape South deposit area included a hole, which hit 5 metres (m) at a grade of 2.38 grams per ton (g/t) platinum, 2.99 g/t palladium, 1.12% copper and 0.62% nickel from 382m to 387m down the hole.
Notably, this intercept hit a corridor, which has been dubbed the "Sail Zone" which transects the eastern edge of the Escape South High Grade Zone (HGZ) and trends in a northwest orientation along the Escape deposit trend.
The company's CEO Abraham Drost told investors that the recent infill drilling on the margins of the Escape South HGZ continued to deliver "impressive assay results".
READ: Clean Air Metals strengthens ties with First Nations partners in Thunder Bay North region through a new exploration agreement
"Under the results of the recent PEA press release, the Escape South HGZ (>5g/t Pt+Pd) is identified as a high-value potential mining area at the base of the Escape Deposit in years commencing in Year 4 of the PEA mine plan, pursuant to the recently delivered PEA technical report," he explained in a statement.
Last year, the Escape deposit saw an additional 37,000m of expansion drilling, which established continuity between the Escape South HGZ and the Escape North Zone and may add materially to the total 2021 Thunder Bay North project indicated resource of 8.12 g/t platinum-equivalent (PtEq) in 14,553,324 million tonnes, the company said.
Drost said this 37,000m and the latest infill drilling on the PEA mine plan would form part of an updated mineral resource for Thunder Bay to support pre-feasibility studies.
"Assay results to date suggest good continuity of mineralization between sections along the 900m trend of mineralization between the Escape South HGZ and Escape North Zone where the PEA Escape deposit underground ramp development encounters the Escape Deposit pay zone at approximately 200m vertical depth," Drost added.
Other new drill results included an intercept of 29m grading 1g/t platinum, 1.25g/t palladium, 0.44% copper and 0.32% nickel from 334m to 363m downhole.
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the project reported in January this year showed an after-tax net present value (NPV) of C$378.4 million, using a 5% discount rate, as well as an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 29.8%. The PEA also estimates the project will generate average annual revenue of C$239.8 million per year from the sale of PGE and copper mineral concentrates over a 10-year mine life.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com