Archer Provides Exploration Update At The Caster Property And Amends Option Agreement
Archer Exploration Corp. (CSE: RCHR) (“Archer” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has commenced field work to follow-up on high-grade rock-chip results from previous and historical exploration activities on the Caster property, located in the Lac Paul region of Quebec (the “Caster Property”). The Company is also pleased to announce that it has agreed to extend certain deadlines in the option agreement dated August 1, 2020 (the “Option Agreement”) between Geomap Exploration Inc. (the “Optionor”) and the Company, pursuant to which the Company has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Caster Property.
Highlights:
Grab sampling from Company reconnaissance prospecting has identified the following:
Massive magnetite and illmentie lenses and breccias identified associated with an anorthosite intrusive
Limited assaying indicates favourable concentration of V2O5 and Fe2O3 via magnetic separation (Davis Test), with beneficiation averaging 288% for vanadium oxide.
High grade phosphate in form of appetite correlated with vanadium mineralisation, assaying up to 6.71% P2O5.
To follow up on these very promising results the Company has planned a ground magnetic survey at the southwestern and eastern anomalies and the large northern magnetic area.
“We are very pleased to be getting back to the field to help define trenching and drilling targets on the two mineralised trends identified to date. We also plan to test the significant magnetic anomalies in the north. Critically the mineralisation has demonstrated that the vanadium and iron oxide grades can be significantly enhanced via magnetic separation, whilst titanium reports to the non-magnetic fraction and is also significantly enriched, which is very encouraging for future studies. The project is located just to the southwest of the advancing Lac Paul phosphate project, potentially opening up significant infrastructure synergies,” stated Mike Brown, CEO of Archer. “Vanadium has a growing role in battery technology for storage and thus is a strategic metal. It’s an ideal time to have this type of project in Canada, with existing large high-grade mineralised targets and the potential for more discoveries through exploration and subsequent detailed work.”
The Caster Property
The Caster Property lies approximately 150km of the sea-port town of Saguenay and is accessible by sealed, gravel and forestry roads. The project lies within a region of growing importance for iron and vanadium exploration, with copper and nickel also reported. Previous reconnaissance work in 2018 returned grab samples grading up to 1.56% from gossanous outcrops. An aeromagnetic survey was flow in 2018 and shows two marked northeast trending magnetic highs in the southern west and eastern areas of the property, with large discrete anomalies in the central northern area. The 2018 sampling was located on the eastern anomaly. Archer undertook initial field prospecting work in May 2021, focussing on the unsampled southwestern anomaly and the previously sampled eastern anomaly
Southwestern Aeromagnetic Anomaly (SW anomaly)
Prospecting identified a number of northeast-southwest striking gossanous lenses coincident with the SW anomaly. These were traceable for up to 150m metres along strike, although cover and flora limit outcrop. A total of 38 rock grab samples were assayed. Results show strong association of V-Fe-Ti, which is typical for regional deposits within anorthosite intrusives. The aeromagnetic high associated with anomalous zones remains open to the NE, for a strike length of nearly 7km. This remains totally untested. The tenement boundary closes the interpreted mineralised envelopes to the SW.
The Eastern Anomaly
The Eastern anomaly, identified by rock chip sampling in historic work by a previous owner in 2018, is coincident with a small NE-SW magnetic anomaly that appears part of a much larger NE-SW linear magnetic high, which is to the immediate west of the Eastern Anomaly (see Figure 1). The larger anomaly has not been sampled due to overburden and is approximately 4km in strike length.
A total of 22 rock chip samples were taken by Archer from this limited area, where oxidised gossanous lenses and breccias within weathered intrusive were observed. The massive magnetite/ilmenite mineralisation was also associated with quartz veining.
Metallurgy
A total of nine samples were selected for magnetic separation (Davis Test) to test general response of the samples to beneficiation via magnetic separation. The results of these were very encouraging, demonstrating the potential for significant enrichment of iron oxide and vanadium oxide via simple magnetic separation. Enrichment of titanium oxide within the non-magnetic fraction of the samples indicates the potential for multiple metal credits from both fractions of the separation.
Upcoming Fieldwork
A ground magnetic survey at 100m spacing is planned to be conducted at the SW and Eastern anomalies and the large northern magnetic area. This is expected to assist in mapping out magnetic bodies, with widespread overburden present. Results will be used for planning for future trenching and drill target generation. Rock chip prospecting of the unsampled northern anomalous area is also planned, subject to snow cover. The program is expected to take 3-4 weeks.
Stock Option Grant
The Company also announces that it has granted 1,500,000 incentive stock options to certain directors, officers, and consultants of the Company. The incentive stock options will vest over a period of three years, have an exercise price of $0.51 per share, and are valid for a 5-year period from the date of grant. The options were issued pursuant to the Company’s incentive stock option plan and are subject to regulatory approval.
About Archer Exploration
The Company is focusing electric metals projects, which include copper, cobalt, nickel and vanadium. The future demand for these metals is seen as extremely robust, with supply facing a number of significant constraints. The Company is advancing on exploration of its Caster project in Quebec, where airborne geophysics has identified significant anomalies with historical sampling indicating significant vanadium, titanium and iron potential (see Technical Report (NI 43-101) on the Caster Property, filed on Sedar.com on November 27, 2020). The Company is also advancing its potential acquisition of the Zanzui Nickel Project in Tanzania and evaluating other projects.
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