Recharge Metals to start on-ground exploration at Wapistan lithium project
Recharge Metals (ASX: REC) is set to start on-ground exploration at the wholly-owned Wapistan lithium project in the north-western part of Canada’s prolific James Bay region.
The program will focus on four high-priority areas which have been identified for their potential to contain spodumene-hosted lithium mineralisation.
It will be carried out by Dahrouge Geological Consulting and will commence at the easy-to-access Wapistan East prospect.
Field crews will traverse the targets from the existing highway and access roads without the need for helicopter support.
The ease of access means they will be able to complete multiple shorter traverses each day, allowing more time for in-depth exploration.
Samples from any outcrops discovered will be delivered to laboratories in the regional centre of Val-d’Or.
Getting on the ground
Recharge managing director Felicity Repacholi said the company was looking forward to getting on the ground after recent major forest fires in the James Bay region.
“We were granted access to the area around Wapistan two weeks ago and Dahrouge team has done a fantastic job getting into the field so quickly … we are eagerly waiting to see what they discover within our priority target areas,” she said.
“I will be onsite next week and look forward to receiving and sharing the first observations from the initial fieldwork.”
Integration of data
The exploration targets at Wapistan were derived from the integration of data from high-resolution aerial and satellite imagery; historical outcrop mapping from 1959; and a high-resolution drone magnetic survey completed in 2022.
Ms Repacholi said the company was hopeful for spodumene-hosted lithium occurrences similar to those identified at the nearby Mia and Radis lithium projects, owned by Q2 Metals and Ophir Gold Corp respectively.
Recent grab samples from Mia returned grades of 2.73%, 2.05% and 0.55% lithium oxide, while outcrop samples from the Chou and Navet prospects at Radis returned 2.33%, 1.68%, 1.17% and 1.26%.
Ophir has also reported the identification of a previously-unsampled spodumene-bearing zone in historical literature, measuring approximately 91 metres by 21m.
“The identification of such zones in historical reports provides encouragement that the targets we have identified at Wapistan have the potential to host lithium-bearing pegmatites,” Ms Repacholi said.