Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Wolfden Resources (TSXV: WLF) has received results from last year’s drilling at the Big Silver project in Maine, where the company holds the mineral rights to a land package of over 32 hectares in Washington county, close to the New Brunswick border.
The fall-winter program included a total of eight holes in some 1,750 metres across serval different target types. Part of the objective was to determine the potential for expansion of the known mineralization at Big Silver to a depth of 400 metres, well beyond the historical work of 125 to 150 metres.
The drilling was highlighted by hole PB21-02, which returned 173.3 g/t silver-equivalent over 50.1 metres from 67.9 metres, including 220.32 g/t silver-equivalent over 18.9 metres and 278.62 g/t silver-equivalent over 6.4 metres, and including 393.52 g/t silver-equivalent over 6.4 metres.
“We are very encouraged by the grade and size implications of this silver-rich mineralization system and its coincidence with the recently defined soil and geophysics anomalies,” Don Dudek, VP of exploration for Wolfden, said.
“Our goal is to discover and delineate an underground resource of 20 million tonnes or more, which appears achievable with this type of mineralized system. The hydrothermal system appears to be very strong, well endowed and both structurally and stratigraphy controlled.”
The core of the Big Silver project is a 1,500-by-2,000-metre area of historic silver, zinc, lead, copper and gold mineralization, with historic drill intercepts including 530.2 g/t silver-equivalent over 15.2 metres and 14.63 g/t gold and 1.07% copper over 7.0 metres.
The high precious metal polymetallic mineralization is hosted by sediments, mafic volcanics and hydrothermal breccias. Through drilling, soil sampling, and induced polarization and ground magnetic geophysical surveys, Wolfden has so far defined and expanded the footprint of the mineralized zones, with the new data providing prioritized target areas for future drilling.
Elsewhere in Maine, Wolfden is looking to advance its wholly owned Pickett Mountain project in Penobscot county, considered one of the highest-grade undeveloped polymetallic massive sulphide deposits in North America. In November, the company provided an updated resource for the project, totalling 2.7 million indicated tonnes averaging 8.91% zinc, 3.83% lead, 1.22% copper, 97.2 g/t silver and 0.8 g/t gold (17.72% zinc-equivalent).
Wolfden also has two nickel sulphide deposits in Manitoba, where an expansion drill program recently kicked off at its Rice Island nickel-copper-cobalt project.
