Today, Saville Resources Inc. released a complete overview of the historical results from the Niobium Claim Group recently optioned from Commerce Resources Corp., as the latter prefers to focus exclusively on its advanced-stage Ashram REE Deposit. Saville has signed an agreement to acquire up to 75% of the project and that agreement is now going through the TSX-V approval process.
Saville has disclosed results of past boulder sampling on these 21 claims (formerly known as the Eldor Niobium Claims) including truly jaw-dropping grades of extremely high niobium assays never published before. As a comparison, remember that most globally significant niobium deposits have grades between 0.3% and 2.5% Nb2O5.
The source of the numerous niobium mineralized boulders on Saville‘s newly acquired property has yet to be found, and so the treasure hunt begins. As many niobium-rich boulders have been reported from the Niobium Claim Group, Saville could be close to the discovery of a truly great niobium-rich deposit.
Saville‘s property has the right host rock and mineralogy for conventional metallurgical processing, that being carbonatite rock and pyrochlore mineralogy hosting the niobium. Therefore, the mineralogy of the samples is highly favourable. Previous mineralogical work on the carbonatite complex indicates that the niobium and tantalum mineralization present is hosted by the mineral pyrochlore, which is the dominant mineral source of niobium globally. Further, much of the pyrochlore is visible to the naked eye, thus indicating a relatively course grain size which is advantageous to metallurgical recovery.
The Treasure Hunt – Boulder Train Technology
The extremely high-grade boulder disclosed in today‘s press-release was collected northwest of the Ashram REE Deposit. As the last ice age melted away, the glacier over Québec receded to the north and potentially slightly to the west. Because of this, it is hypothesized that this high-grade boulder may have originated from somewhere within Saville‘s Property, potentially from the Southeast Area – this is where the “treasure hunt“ will begin, and where Saville intends to drill test as soon as possible.
For almost 50 years now, only 3 primary niobium mines have been responsible for global supply: Araxa in Brazil producing about 80% of the world‘s niobium with estimated head grades of 2.5% Nb2O5 (yet with a 50% recovery), Catalao in Brazil supplying about 10% of global output with resource grades between 0.9-1.3% Nb2O5, and Niobec in Québec, Canada, also having approximately a 10% share in world supply with resource grades of 0.4-0.53% Nb2O5. All of these niobium mines share one important criteria: Carbonatite host rock.
The niobium market continues to see increased demand of about 7% CAGR by 2020 without any new additions – so far – to the current list of 3 producers.
As niobium is not traded on an exchange or futures market, investors looking for exposure can only do so with publicly listed niobium companies. However amongst the 3 producing mines, only Catalao is owned by a publicly listed company (China Molybdenum Co. Ltd.).
According to today‘s press-release:
“Saville Resources Inc. (the “Company” or “Saville”) is pleased to provide an overview of the work completed historically by Commerce Resources Corp. on the Niobium Claim Group (the “Property”) located in northern Quebec, approximately 130 km south of Kuujjuaq.
The Company has completed their review of the results collected on these claims since 2007, and is currently delineating targets for an upcoming drill program. The Property is being acquired based on the strong niobium-tantalum potential demonstrated from the considerable amount of exploration work completed to date (surface sampling, geophysics, and drilling).
This work includes numerous surface samples grading >1% Nb2O5 and >1,000 ppm Ta2O5 to a peak assay of 16.1% Nb2O5 and 7,540 ppm Ta2O5 returned from the same boulder sample. This boulder sample assayed the highest Nb-Ta grade ever returned from the Eldor Carbonatite Complex and highlights the strong potential for high-grade discovery on the Property.
In addition to surface sampling, high-grade drill intersections have also been returned from the Property including 0.85% Nb2O5 over 19.54 m (EC10-033 – Southeast Area), with individual core samples up to 1.85% Nb2O5, as well as 329 ppm Ta2O5 over 33.93 m (EC10-040 – Southeast Area).
In addition, further surface sampling work was completed throughout the Miranna Area in the fall of 2017, by Commerce Resources Corp., and includes those claims that comprise the Company’s Property. Assay results from this work are pending.
Mineralogical analysis indicates pyrochlore as the primary host mineral for the niobium-tantalum, which is also the dominant source mineral for niobium and tantalum processing globally. In addition, the mineralization is often associated with strong phosphate mineralization, primarily hosted by apatite, making it an additional commodity of interest.
Collectively, the work has outlined three primary areas of interest at various stages of exploration; the Miranna Area, Southeast Area, and the Northwest Area. The Company believes that these numerous, high-grade, niobium-tantalum occurrences demonstrate the prospective nature of the Property and indicate a strong potential for a deposit of significance to be present.
The Company is currently preparing an NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Niobium Claim Group Property, which consists of 21 contiguous claims within the Eldor Property owned by Commerce Resources Corp. Saville recently signed an Earn-In Agreement (subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval) providing the Company with the exclusive right to earn up to a 75% interest in the Property (see news release dated January 11, 2018). The agreement is conditionally approved by the TSX Venture Exchange, pending receipt of an acceptable NI 43-101 Technical Report on the property.
Miranna Area
The Miranna Area is characterized by a strongly mineralized (Nb-Ta-Phosphate), glacially dispersed, boulder train with a distinct geophysical anomaly at its apex. High-grade niobium and tantalum has been sampled from these boulders, with select highlights noted in Table 1.
The geophysical anomaly at the apex of the boulder train, known as the Miranna Target, is interpreted to be the source of the mineralization and has yet to be drill tested. With the boulder train now well delineated and found to contain some of the highest Nb-Ta-Phosphate grades on the Property to date, the Miranna Target is high priority for drill testing.
Southeast and Northwest Areas
The Southeast and Northwest areas are where Nb-Ta mineralization was first discovered in the Eldor Carbonatite Complex, and therefore, have seen the majority of the exploration focus. A total of 37 holes for approximately 7,512 m over several drill campaigns have been completed by Commerce Resources Corp. on the Property, of which, 28 holes for 6,495 m have been completed on Nb-Ta targets. Select drill intersections from the Northwest and Southeast areas are presented in Table 2.
Both the Southeast and Northwest areas remain underexplored with the last niobium-tantalum focused work in these areas completed in 2008 and 2010 respectively. The drill intersections to date are highly encouraging, with the results of the 2010 drilling in the Southeast Area exceeding that of 2008. This area in particular requires additional infill and step-out drilling to further delineate the mineralization discovered to date, and to evaluate the merits of completing an initial mineral resource estimate.
Further, the numerous mineralized boulders in the area, as well as the shallow nature of several drill intersections, indicate the mineralization extends to surface where it is being obscured by only a thin veil of overburden. The highest-grade Nb-Ta boulder (16.1% Nb2O5 and 7,540 ppm Ta2O5) was collected along the western edge of the Northwest Area, from within the Property, with glacial ice direction indicating a source further south within the complex and potentially within the Company’s claims.
Geophysical surveys have identified numerous targets throughout the Southeast and Northwest areas to further guide drilling with many remaining to be drill tested, providing additional upside to those zones already discovered. Collectively, the data supports a strong potential for a Nb-Ta-Phosphate mineralized body of significant grade and size to be present on the Property.“
Full size / Boulder sampling on the Niobium Claim Group Property from Saville Resources Inc.
Most of the current exploration, development and operating niobium mines have resource grades between 0.3-2% Nb2O5, apart from the world‘s largest and highest grade niobium mine, Araxá in Brazil, with average grades of approximately 2.5% Nb2O5.
Full size / Source: "Critical Mineral Resources of the United States" (USGS, 2017)
Company Details
Saville Resources Inc.
#1450 – 789 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC, V6C 1H2 Canada
Phone: +1 604 681 1568
Email: mhodge@savilleres.com
www.savilleres.com
Shares Issued & Outstanding: 30,868,714
Canadian Symbol (TSX.V): SRE
Current Price: $0.06 CAD (04/04/2018)
Market Capitalization: $1.9 Million CAD
German Symbol / WKN (Frankfurt): S0J / A2DY3Z
Current Price: €0.038 EUR (04/04/2018)
Market Capitalization: €1.2 Million EUR
Previous Coverage
Report #2: “Win-Win Situation to Develop One of the Most Attractive Niobium Prospects in North America“
Report #1: “Saville Resources: Getting Ready to Create Shareholder Value“
Disclaimer: Please read the full disclaimer within the full research report as a PDF (here) as fundamental risks and conflicts of interest exist.
