Power Metallic identifies significant polymetallic mineralisation in Lion Zone

Canadian exploration company Power Metallic has reported results from its deepest intersection to date at the Lion Zone, carried out in the wake of successful exploration activities last year. The 2024 discovery of the zone, 5.5 kilometres away from the Nisk Main Zone, has shifted the company’s focus towards what could prove a game-changing discovery. Power Metallic secured an option to acquire up to 80% of the Nisk project, located in Quebec, from Critical Elements Lithium Corporation in February 2021. At that time the quality of the deposits was less well understood, but according to CEO Terry Lynch, the project could end up producing over one million tonnes of metal equivalent.

Lynch commented on the new discoveries and how they have reset perceptions of what Nisk could offer: “We reeled off 16 holes in about four months and all of a sudden we had a major discovery which became the Lion Zone… That really transformed our understanding of what we had… It went from being a nickel sulphide project to effectively a polymetallic project which is probably going to be equal parts nickel, copper and noble metals.”

The recent operation saw four holes drilled across several target areas in the Lion Zone. Hole PN-24-093 demonstrated a 31.05-metre section with 0.13 g/t gold, 2.74g/t silver, 0.37% copper, 1.16g/t palladium, 0.18g/t platinum and 0.09% nickel from 534.1m. This hole, along with PN-24-092, confirmed the location of the zone’s eastern plunge extent. Subsequent drilling below hole PN-25-096 showed significant mineralisation, including sizeable copper–nickel zones, with assays to confirm grades pending. The other two holes drilled were designed to confirm the near-surface eastern strike extension of the interpreted deposit. Both were found to contain high platinum group metal (PGMs) concentrations, including one instance of 1.55 metres at 65.09g/t of palladium.

Two further holes were drilled following the detection of a weak airborne electromagnetic anomaly 700 metres to the northeast of Lion, confirming a mineralised structure with several narrow areas containing copper, PGMs, gold, silver and nickel. Drilling is currently too sparse to model what has been named the Tiger Zone, though further operations are set to get underway in the near future

The project is well located close to a major highway, a town and an airport. It is situated in the immediate vicinity of a Hydro-Québec electrical substation, which is able to supply inexpensive, low-carbon hydropower. The shallow average mineral depth with ultramafic tailings also enables significant carbon sequestration, helping to offset project emissions. Nisk is therefore well positioned to become a low-risk, low-carbon or even carbon-neutral, and environmentally responsible development.

Notably, many of the elements identified as having a significant presence in the deposit are battery metals, such as nickel, copper, cobalt, palladium and platinum. These metals are set to play a key role in the energy transition, as many countries around the world aim to achieve net zero in the coming decades. Greening transportation will be a major part of these efforts, and battery metals are needed to power electric and hybrid vehicles.

Following the discovery, the company is ramping up drilling activities at Nisk, with the number of operational rigs set to rise from three to six by June. Power Metallic will provide for 100,000 metres in drilling in order to extend the Lion and Tiger polymetallic zones, as well as exploring the strike between these zones and the Nisk Main Zone. Four drill operations are set to expand projects and define the Lion resource by the first half of 2026. The company is well capitalised at present, after raising $20 million in a flow-through offering.

Power Metallic, formerly Power Nickel, is a junior exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the PNPN ticker. Its key area of activity is the Nisk project, a high-grade nickel–copper sulphide deposit consisting of around 90 claims over an area of roughly 4,500 hectares. Nisk is located around 55 kilometres to the east of the Cree Nation of Nemaska Community in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory of Quebec, in the Nord-du-Québec administrative region. The company also has a royalty interest in the Copaquire project in Chile, incorporating the Sulfato South resource, which is predominantly copper, and the molybdenum-dominated Cerro Moly resource.

Source: mining.com.au