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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Summary:
Both the Current and Escape deposits are undeveloped orthomagmatic sulphide PGE-Ni-Cu deposits envisioned to be mined using underground techniques. Current is the larger of the two deposits and hosts mineralization from where it sub-crops beneath Current Lake plunging moderately to the east along an approximate 5 km strike length and to approximately 1,050 m below surface. The down-plunge limits of the deposit have not been defined by drilling. The Escape deposit has a drill-defined strike length of approximately 4.6 km, is modelled to a depth of approximately 580 m below surface, and the down plunge limit of the deposit remains untested by drilling, with an additional potential of approximately 2,300 m interpreted from the magnetic signature. Two other intrusions within the claim boundary, Lone Island Lake and 025 Intrusion, have been identified at the Project as prospective for PGEs and are at an earlier stage of exploration.
Mineralization
Mineralization discovered within the property and hosted within the Current and Escape chonoliths is classified as orthomagmatic. Orthomagmatic deposits are the product of direct segregation, accumulation, or crystallization of an immiscible phase (sulphide commonly) from a silicate magma. These types of deposits are commonly polymetallic containing a diverse suite of chalcophile elements. The following metals: nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), platinum group element (PGE) which comprise platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir) and osmium (Os), and cobalt (Co) are commonly found in orthomagmatic deposits along with the precious metals gold (Au) and silver (Ag). All of these elements are identified within the mineralization at the Current and Escape deposits. Immiscible sulphide has acted as a collector phase for the chalcophile elements and all elements show strong inter-elemental correlations with sulphur. Within orthomagmatic deposits that have components of massive and semimassive sulphide, a cooling/crystallization fractionation of the sulphide liquid into intermediate solid solution (ISS) and monosulphide solid solution (MSS) is commonly observed resulting in metal zonation (e.g., Cu-PGE rich vs. Ni rich areas). Within the mineralization at Current and Escape, this metal zonation is not significant.
The mineralization identified within the Project to date is considered to be somewhat atypical of orthomagmatic Cu-Ni sulphide deposits. The sub-class of deposits associated with rift and flood basalts and their associated magmatic conduits (Noril’sk type: Naldrett 2004) commonly contain Ni rich massive sulphide accumulations as observed at Voisey’s Bay, Noril’sk, Eagle, and Tamarack. The Thunder Bay North Intrusive Complex is PGE and Cu enriched, with limited massive Ni-sulphide accumulations giving it an atypical flavour. There still remains the potential for large massive sulphide bodies within both the Current and Escape intrusions.
Within the Thunder Bay North Intrusive Complex, most of the presently known mineralization is hosted within the Current and Escape intrusions. In almost all cases, mineralization within both deposits and corresponding zones is hosted by variably felspathic lherzolite or wehrlite and olivine melagabbro. Additionally, disseminated Pt-Pd-Cu-Ni mineralization has also been observed within the LIL and 025 intrusions.
Current Deposit
The drill-defined length of the Current deposit is approximately 4.0 km with the chonolith remaining open at depth. The Current deposit has six well defined zones of mineralization that are contiguous along the plunge of the intrusion as shown in Figure 7-16. Other zones do exist within the intrusion and are discussed in this section; however, they are not part of the current Mineral Resource estimate.
Escape Deposit
The Escape chonolith which hosts the Escape deposit has a drill-defined strike length of approximately 4.6 km and is open down-plunge with an approximately 2.3 km magnetically interpreted, non drill tested extension. Mineralization within the Escape Intrusion occurs intermittently along the entire strike length and is subdivided into four zones as shown in Figure 7-17. The zones from north to south comprise Steepledge, Escape North, Escape South, and the HGZ.
Lone Island Lake North and South Intrusion
The LIL North and South intrusions are located to the west of Current and Escape along the same structural corridor (Quetico and Escape faults). LIL North has had more exploration work completed to date, however, mineralization identified has been finely disseminated, in three different settings. Anomalous chalcophile element abundances are observed proximal to the basal intrusive contact. Anomalous values are also spatially associated with a stratigraphic interval that contains gabbroic autoliths in the lower half of the intrusion. The third setting occurs in the upper half of the intrusion and appears to be a reef-type setting with a change in lithogeochemistry proximal to the mineralization. The lack of olivine bearing phases and the general S-undersaturated nature of the rocks comprising the intrusion suggest that this intrusion is not prospective at the current stratigraphic level.
Within LIL South, anomalous chalcophile element abundances have been identified as localized, finely disseminated pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite mineralization that is contact-proximal and is exposed at surface. However, no distinct mineralized zones have been identified by surface sampling or limited diamond drilling.
025 Intrusion
The 025 Intrusion is the only location within the Project where peridotite/olivine cumulate rocks are exposed in outcrop at surface. The fine grained peridotite comprising most of the multioutcrop exposure is very similar in appearance to that observed in boulders and drill core at the Current Intrusion. The first of the three holes drilled in the vicinity of the exposed conduit by RTEC in 2015 targeted the centre of the exposure with a vertical hole and intersected low grade mineralization proximal to the basal contact. This mineralization consisted of approximately 1% finely disseminated pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite within fine grained peridotite. The low percentage of sulphides present within an interval that contained up to 0.617 g/t Pd, 0.533 g/t Pt, 2130 ppm Cu, and 2,110 ppm Ni suggests that the tenor of the sulphides was relatively high. Therefore, it remains an exploration target.