Ni-Cu Exploration Highlights
Following the execution of the agreement with Mont Royal, Azimut completed a high-resolution heliborne survey over the property (5,116 line-km on 25m spaced lines), which identified a strong subcircular magnetic anomaly. Field follow-up work led to the discovery of a previously unrecognized kilometre-scale ultramafic intrusion with associated copper and nickel sulphide mineralization.
The anomaly appears to be composed of three contiguous magnetic lobes that may correspond to different magmatic pulses. A 3D magnetic inversion of the data suggests a basin-shaped geometry for part of the intrusion, which may constitute a very favourable setting for sulphide accumulation.
The ultramafic intrusion, approximately 1,000 m by 400 m, is bounded by volcanosedimentary rocks of the Lower Eastmain greenstone belt, specifically iron formations and pyrite-rich metasediments and mafic volcanics. This lithological context is considered as highly favourable for massive to semi-massive nickel-copper sulphide mineralization, which is often positioned along the basal contact of an intrusive body.
In 2021, a very responsive (SQUID) electromagnetic ground survey was completed over an area of 1 km by 14 km on a mineralized ultramafic intrusion identified by Azimut (PR January 31, 2022).
The first three phases of drilling completed in 2022 (holes WAP22-001 to -015; 3,395.3 m) have led to the recognition of significant nickel-copper mineralization related to an ultramafic intrusion 900 m long by 400 m wide. This intrusion (“W1”) is interpreted as a folded synvolcanic sill. Nickel-copper mineralization, encountered in 12 of the 15 holes, has now been delineated over a 750-metre strike length. The system remains entirely open at depth and on strike and consists of two main horizons: a basal horizon along or close to the contact with metasediments or paragneiss and a middle horizon within the ultramafic intrusion (PR April 24, 2023).
The main highlight of the first 4-hole (1,068 m) diamond drilling program was an interval grading 2.68% Ni, 1.30% Cu, 0.09% Co over 3.30 m, from 143.4 m to 146.7 m in hole WAP22-003 (vertical depth of 110 m) (PR June 29, 2022). This interval is one of the best nickel-copper results recorded in the James Bay region, based on public data (SIGEOM database, Government of Quebec). It strongly supports Azimut’s view that the region is underexplored for nickel-copper deposits despite its favourable geological context. The interval indicates the potential for sulphide accumulation at the bottom of the intrusion with an interpreted basin-shaped geometry supported by 3D magnetic inversion modelling.
The massive to semi-massive sulphide mineralization in the interval comprises coarse-grained pentlandite, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite. It displays brecciated textures containing angular to subangular fragments of ultramafic rocks and metasediments. The mineralized section is schematically positioned at the interface between overlying ultramafic intrusive rocks and underlying foliated host rocks dominated by pyrrhotite-bearing metasediments.
A follow-up program (7 holes for approx. 1,300 m) was completed to further delineate the shape and extent of this discovery, returning encouraging results (PR October 3, 2022) with disseminated sulphides (mostly chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and possibly pentlandite) hosted within the ultramafic intrusion, close to the contact with the surrounding metasediments.
A third program was announced in October 2022 to further assess the nickel-copper potential of an ultramafic intrusion discovered in 2021 on the property. Furthermore, a second nickel-copper intrusion was discovered ("W2"), further demonstrating the potential of the property and supporting the view that the region is underexplored for these commodities (PR April 24, 2023).
Key highlights from the three drilling phases on the W1 intrusion are as follows:
Hole WAP22-003: 2.68% Ni, 1.30% Cu, 0.09% Co over 3.30 m (from 143.4 m to 146.7 m),
including: 3.63% Ni, 0.48% Cu, 0.12% Co over 1.0 m,
and 3.04% Ni, 0.75% Cu, 0.10% Co over 1.1 m
Hole WAP22-009: 1.16% Ni, 3.85% Cu over 0.8 m (from 152.0 m to 152.8 m)
Hole WAP22-007: 0.29% Ni, 0.25% Cu over 18.0 m (from 129.0 m to 147.0 m)
Hole WAP22-010: 0.27% Ni, 0.41% Cu over 15.75 m (from 60.0 m to 75.75 m)
Hole WAP22-008: 0.33% Ni, 0.35% Cu over 1.1 m (from 116.9 m to 118.0 m), and 0.34% Ni, 0.43% Cu over 1.71 m (from 129.54 m to 131.25 m)
Hole WAP22-013: 0.15% Ni, 0.66% Cu, 0.012% Co, 7.18 g/t Ag over 3.3 m (from 72.0 m to 75.3 m)
Hole WAP22-014: 0.20% Ni, 0.13% Cu, 0.017% Co, 0.78 g/t Ag over 21.5 m (from 125.5 m to 147.0 m)
including 0.40 % Ni, 0.47% Cu, 0.025% Co, 2,46 g/t Ag over 2.0 m
0.52% Ni, 0.70% Cu, 0.020% Co, 3.27 g/t Ag over 8.0 m (from 169.0 m to 177.0 m)
including 1.34% Ni, 1.21% Cu, 0.050% Co, 4.76 g/t Ag over 1.1 m
Hole WAP22-015: 0.22% Ni, 0.20% Cu, 0.018% Co, 0.97 g/t Ag over 7.5 m (from 47.0 m to 54.5 m)
The nickel-copper results from the W1 intrusion are very encouraging and warrant additional drilling.
Gold Exploration Highlights
New gold targets have been defined at Wapatik following a systematic property-wide evaluation that included a high-resolution magnetic survey, remote sensing analysis, lithostructural interpretation and an extensive till survey (154 samples) to characterize the gold grain counts of these samples (see PR October 25, 2021).
Excellent additional results have recently been received for the dense mineral fraction from the 2021 till survey. Twenty-two (22) samples returned values higher than 0.5 g/t Au, including 14 samples with values higher than 1.0 g/t Au, with one maximum value of more than 30 g/t Au.
