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Thunder Bay North (TBN) Project

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Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
 Archived Information
Commodities
  • Platinum
  • Palladium
  • Copper
  • Nickel
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Cobalt
  • Rhodium
Mining Method
  • Longhole open stoping
  • Drift & Fill
  • Cross-cut drift
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SnapshotThe Project is comprised of the Current Lake Property and the Escape Lake Property.

Feb. 15, 2023 - Previous reporting was based on an independent mineral resource estimate and subsequent preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") prepared by Nordmin Engineering Ltd. (January 20, 2021; December 1, 2021; January 13, 2022). Due to an apparent over-estimation of the original mineral resource at the Current Deposit, the results of the PEA in the technical report "NI 43-101 Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Thunder Bay North Project, Thunder Bay, Ontario" (filed on SEDAR on January 12, 2022) must not be relied upon and the Company retracts both documents.

The deposits host a 13.8 Mt indicated mineral resource containing 2.4M Pt eq. oz (Technical Report on the Thunder Bay North Project, Ontario Canada, NI43-101, SLR Consulting Canada Ltd, June 19, 2023) with significant potential for expansion down-plunge.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Clean Air Metals Inc. 100 % Indirect
Panoramic PGM (Canada) Ltd. owns the Thunder Bay North project.

During the year ended January 31, 2023, Clean Air Metals Inc. satisfied all obligations under the Benton Transaction, earning a 100% right, title and interest in the Thunder Bay North project and the Escape Lake project, now collectively called the Thunder Bay North critical minerals project.

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Deposit type

  • Magmatic
  • MMS
  • Intrusion related
  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

Within the Project area, the main rock types are Archean granites and metasedimentary rocks of the Quetico Subprovince, and Keweenawan Supergroup mafic to ultramafic intrusive rocks and related intermediate to mafic hybrid intrusive rocks of the Mid-continent Rift.

The Current, Escape, and Lone Island Lake North and South intrusions appear to be connected by the diffuse East West Complex which consists of a series of moderately-dipping hybrid sills and dykes that are confined to the Escape Lake Fault Zone which comprises the southernmost part of the Quetico Fault system.

Most of the presently known mineralization is hosted within the Current and Escape intrusions, although disseminated Pt-Pd-Cu-Ni mineralization has also been observed within the Lone Island and 025 intrusions. These intrusions comprise four of the at least five Keweenawan (Mesoproterozoic) age magmatic conduits present along the northwestern edge of the MCR system within the Project boundaries. This group of related intrusions have been collectively termed the Thunder Bay North Intrusive Complex.

The Current deposit has six well defined zones of mineralization that are contiguous along the plunge of the intrusion. Escape deposit has three well defined zones of mineralization that were used within the current Mineral Resource Estimate.

Upper Current/Current Zone
The Current Zone, discovered in late 2006 by Magma Metals, is hosted within a sub-horizontal to gently south-southeast plunging, narrow, oval to bell-shaped magmatic conduit (or chonolith), which is part of the Current Lake Intrusion. The zone ranges from 30 m to 50 m in width and up to 70 m in height, mainly underlying Current Lake.

Bridge Zone
The Bridge Zone comprises the eastern portion of the Current Zone before the tube-like conduit begins to transition into a tabular body within the Beaver West Zone. Mineralization is generally similar to that observed within the Current Zone; however, there are several small, elongated, limited strike-extent net-textured to massive sulphide pools present locally. This zone becomes increasingly bottom-loaded to the east where it joins with the Beaver West Zone.

Cloud Zone
The Cloud Zone was discovered in 2008 and is a distinct low sulphide, high-tenor zone that occurs near the roof of the Beaver Zone of the Current Intrusion and transitions to the west into the upper part of the Beaver West Zone. It comprises a diffuse, irregular cloud of <1% very finely disseminated chalcopyrite and some pyrrhotite that is often very difficult to see visually. This zone is often so subtle that the sulphides comprising it cannot be distinguished in hand specimen until they tarnish after several weeks exposure to the air.

Beaver Zone
The Beaver Zone was also discovered in late 2007 by Magma Metals (Canada) Limited and occurs within the larger, tabular, Beaver portion of the intrusion. It exhibits a shallow east–southeasterly plunge and increases from a width of 100 m and a thickness of 15 m to a width of 550 m and a thickness of 150 m to 175 m in the east. Mineralization is primarily developed in the basal portions of the intrusion (bottom-loaded) within variably feldspathic lherzolite.

Beaver West Zone
This zone has been kept as a separate zone because it contains several different mineralization\trends with directions differing greatly from the mineralized trends observed within other parts of the Current chonolith system. It is characterized by a narrow southeast entrance and an even narrower northwest exit and is located immediately east of where the Bridge Zone tube transitions into a tabular body as it crosses over the Quetico Fault. The thickness of the intrusion hosting the Beaver West Zone is quite variable with an irregular floor hosting several thermally-eroded depressions that sometimes host small, linear massive sulphide pools overlain by variable thicknesses of net-textured sulphides (greater than 25%) grading upward into finely disseminated sulphides.

Beaver East Zone
The Beaver East Zone comprises the southeasterly extension of the Beaver Zone past that portion of the system that was included within the 2010 AMEC historic Mineral Resource Estimate, and it is essentially continuous with the Beaver Zone. The intrusion in this area is up to 200 m thick and about 550 m in width. This zone exhibits the same shallow plunge and extends the Beaver mineralization a further 630 m to the east-southeast. Mineralization is finely disseminated, ranging from a few percent to >25% sulphides, is interstitial to the gangue, and primarily occurs within linear, thermallyeroded depressions within the base of the Beaver portion of the Current Intrusion.

437/SEA Zone
The relatively deep (approximately 650 m below surface), poorly defined 437 Zone was discovered in late 2011 and comprises a separate mineralized zone located approximately 300 m southeast of the Beaver East Zone. It occurs within the eastern part of the Current Intrusion where the intrusion morphology transitions from a steep-sided trough to a more open basal feature merging into the SEA portion of the Current Intrusion.

There are presently three mineralized zones defined within the Escape Intrusion, which are from north to south: Steepledge North; Steepledge South; and the Escape HGZ.

Steepledge North
The Steepledge North was discovered by Magma Metals (Canada) Limited in late 2008 and consists of a poorly defined, approximately 200 m long, weakly to locally moderately mineralized zone located beneath the central and southern portions of Steepledge Lake. In this area the mineralization and the conduit are similar to that observed within the Current Zone 3 km to the east; however, the grades are much lower, and the conduit is wider and thicker (50 m to 75 m wide and up to 100 m in height).

Steepledge South
The Steepledge North was discovered by Magma Metals (Canada) Limited in late 2008 and consists of a poorly defined, approximately 200 m long, weakly to locally moderately mineralized zone located beneath the central and southern portions of Steepledge Lake.

Ribbon Zone
The Ribbon Zone was discovered by RTEC in early 2008 and presently comprises a roughly approximately 350 m long, poorly drill-defined, elongate, relatively narrow, sub-horizontal, band of disseminated mineralization, similar to the more diffuse portions of the Beaver Zone within the Current deposit.

Escape South
The Escape South Zone is a very well-mineralized, relatively flat-lying (sub-horizontal), elongated disk-like zone exhibiting an overlying and connected central sail and an underlying, discontinuous central keel. This mineralization overlies a localized, deep, steep-sided, thermally-eroded depression within the floor of the intrusion.

Escape South HGZ
The Escape South HGZ comprises a 200 m long, 100 m wide, and 10 m to 90 m thick heavily disseminated to net-textured zone that is located within a geologically complex portion of the southern Escape Intrusion. It is a tabular, sub-horizontal, relatively high grade sulphide body with an upper “fin” shape (sail) and a discontinuous lower "keel” shape that is always situated over, but not at the base of, a pronounced, localized, steep-sided, thermally-eroded depression in the floor of the intrusion.

Escape South Perimeter
The Escape South Perimeter Zone consists of finely disseminated, sub-horizontal wings of mineralization that extend outward in all directions from the Escape South HGZ Zone. This zone is thinner (generally between 5 m to 15 m thick) and contains 3% to 15%, finely disseminated sulphides (pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite) when compared to the usually net-textured HGZ that it encloses.

Reserves

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Comminution

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Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnitsDailyAvg. AnnualLOM
Platinum Metal in ore koz 629
Palladium Metal in ore koz 618
Copper Metal in ore M lbs 111
Nickel Metal in ore M lbs 57
Gold Metal in ore koz 38
Silver Metal in ore koz 850
Platinum Equivalent Metal in ore koz 2,886
Copper Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe42
Copper-PGE Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe19

Operational metrics

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* According to 2021 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
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* According to 2021 study / presentation.

Operating Costs

Currency2021
UG mining costs ($/t milled) CAD 47.4 *  
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* According to 2021 study.

Project Costs

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Processing OpEx $M CAD 305.1
Transportation (haulage) costs $M CAD 57.9
G&A costs $M CAD 83.7
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Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

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