Crater Lake
The Crater Lake Project is located 200 km northeast of Schefferville, Québec and is accessible via fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter. The property consists of 96 contiguous claims covering 47.0 km2 and are owned 100% by Scandium Canada Ltd.
Crater Lake Geology
The property lies in the Churchill Province in the southwestern region of the Mistastin Batholith (1.4Ga). The Mistastin Batholith covers an area of approximately 5,000 km2. The dominant lithologies are granite and pyroxene-bearing quartz monzonite. It is cut by younger biotite hornblende granite, which is in turn cut by a 6 km diameter olivine quartz syenite, the Crater Lake Intrusive Complex. The dominant exposed lithology is a massive syenite, which contains 1 to 10% of interstitial ferromagnesian minerals. A melanocratic unit, ferrosyenite to alkali pyroxenite, contains more than 50% ferromagnesian minerals, including cumulate fayalite, hedenbergite and ferropargasite, occurs as discontinuous layers, sills and amoeboid-like inclusions or dikes. The unit appears to correspond to several concentric magnetic high features observed at the periphery of the Complex related to a caldera collapse ring-dyke structure.
In 2007, as part of a regional evaluation program, one sample collected in the area that is now the Crater Lake Project returned high concentrations of iron oxide and rare earth elements (REE). This information was inherited by Quest Rare Minerals Ltd (QRM) and lead to the “Discovery Outcrop” in 2009. Since 2009, various geochemical and geophysical programs were conducted followed by numerous prospecting, mapping, and diamond drilling programs.
In 2014, QRM intersected a 225 m long scandium (Sc) and REE bearing zone within a thick ferrosyenite layer at the Boulder Zone with a 27.6 m interval grading 351 g/t Sc2O3 and 1.72% REE. Review of the drilling data also returned a 19 m long interval grading 506 g/t Sc2O3 along the western side of the Crater Lake intrusion.
In 2018, Scandium Canada conducted a field campaign consisting of detailed prospecting and geological mapping over three highly prospective scandium targets, the TGZ, STG and Northern Target areas. All targets are characterized by large, strongly magnetic anomalies of variable strike length up to 750 metres. A strongly magnetic, iron-rich pyroxenitic boulder was found 300 meters north of the STG Target and returned 920 g/t Sc2O3. This iron-rich sample is very similar in composition and texture to a sample that was located to the northeast of the Crater Lake intrusion (up-ice from this target area), which returned up to 2,506 g/t Sc2O3. No ferrosyenite outcrops or boulders were observed near the Northern Target.
In 2019, Scandium Canada drilled five boreholes on the TGZ target and intersected intervals grading 341 g/t Sc2O3 over 74.9 m (CL19032) and 314 g/t Sc2O3 over 95.5 m (CL19035). Individual assays from this material graded as high as 730 g/t Sc2O3. The mineralized zone has been traced from surface to at least 200 m down-dip and at least 500 m of strike length and remains open at depth and along strike.
TGZ Target Geology
In 2020, A four-hole diamond drilling program was undertaken to drill test high-intensity magnetic anomalies at the TGZ, STG, and Northern Target areas. As well, a detailed GPS-positioned ground magnetic survey at 50-m line spacings was completed on the western half the property. This survey provided a better definition of the scandium-bearing ferrosyenite units and the radial faults controlling the concentration of scandium mineralization on the property.
In 2021, Scandium Canada conducted two diamond drilling programs and a field program consisting of detailed mapping and sampling at the STG Target and the collection of a 16-tonne and 2-tonne bulk sample at the STG and Discovery Target, respectively.
The drilling at the TGZ target consisted of a 14 drillhole program for a total of 2,085 m. All drillholes intersected the target ferrosyenite intrusive host rock which show a high degree of Sc grade and homogeneity. The drilling indicates that the TG scandium-rich Zone has a north-northeast strike direction. The widths of the mineralized zone vary between 55 and 135 m in true thickness. Mineralization is open at depth below the 200 m vertical level and along strike and appears as a thickening, conical-shaped body in cross-section.
The exploration work at the STG target consisted of a two-drillhole program followed by surface sampling of ferrosyenite outcrops and the collection of a 16-tonne bulk sample of olivine-rich ferrosyenite. Borehole CL21054 had an impressive intercept of 115.8 m grading 252 g/t Sc2O3 with elevated levels of total rare earth oxides plus yttrium (TREO+Y) of up to 0.475%. The channel sampling of the surface projection of the Sc mineralization, traced over a strike length of over 535 m, returned up to 9.6 m grading 247 g/t Sc2O3 and 0.380% TREO+Y. Finally, a total of 18-tonnes (16-tonne STG and 2-tonne Discovery Target) of the scandium mineralized ferrosyenite bulk sample was shipped and delivered to Sept-Îles, QC for use in a planned Pilot Mill study in 2022.
Mineral Resource Estimate
Following the 2021 winter drilling program, Scandium Canada forwarded the project data to InnovExplo of Val-d’Or, QC to complete a 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). On September 23rd 2021, Scandium Canada reported the results of their first MRE with an indicated resource of 7.3 million tonnes grading 282 g/t Sc2O3 and an inferred resource of 13.2 million tonnes grading 264 g/t Sc2O3 for the Northern Lobe of the TG Zone (Scandium Canada Reports TG Zone 43-101 Resource Estimate Results).
43-101 Resource Compliant Table
