Hi Guys,
It's great to see OM1 back in the field. A friend has recently been in contact with Dr James Warren, geologist and Executive Director of Omnia. He forwarded me a series of questions James was kind enough to answer. Said it should be fine to post.
Q. Will you be joining the team in the field during the current fieldwork?
At the moment it’s a data collection exercise, so when we have a bit more to work off I will head over to ground truth and kick off drilling late this year/early next
Q: K/Rb ratios that came from the curtailed exploration showed a number of significant results under 160, but none yet under 15 to indicate discovery of highly fractionated pegmatites. My understanding (from the quote below), is that only a small percentage of pegmatites are fractionated enough to hold a decent % of Li. From what you’ve seen, does the fractionation tend to increase locally, (like following breadcrumbs to the loaf?) Or is it more random, with the better K/Rb ratios pegs, right next to infertile ones?
K/Rb (potassium/rubidium) – so yes we have a number of promising samples with K/Rb ratios as low as 30 but not quite in that 5-20 range that gives you great confidence of seeing spodge. Not all pegs or granites are created equal so you first need to identify fertile ones, and then find the most evolved part of the fertile intrusion.
I work quite a lot in the lithium space (see MQR, PR1) and have been fortunate enough to have seen quite a bit of geochem data to understand what sort of elements and patterns we should be looking for. For example, the below graph is a real data from 40,000m of drilling we completed at a lithium project in WA. The graph shows Li vs K/Rb coloured by Be. Basically high-Li corresponds to low-k/Rb and high-Be.
This image show the mineral beryl (blue crystals, rich in Be) that we found at the LdM Project when I was there for the site visit, and the recent geochem data shows we have Be values up to 100 times background (i.e. up to 200ppm). So between the K/Rb ratios, enriched Be and other pathfinders, our observations, we are confident that with further work we’ll find mineralisation.
LCT pegmatites are known to form as far as 10 km from the parental granite (Breaks and Tindle, 1997), the distal ones being most fractionated. The pegmatites in a group typically show mineralogical and geochemical zonation that is concentric about an exposed or inferred granitic pluton—both in map view and in cross-section. The most proximal and least evolved pegmatite bodies in an LCT field contain only the standard rock-forming minerals of an S-type granite. In the most fractionated pegmatites in successive regional zones, beryl appears, then columbite, then tantalite and spodumene, and finally pollucite. The most highly fractionated rare-element-enriched pegmatites only constitute 1 or 2 percent of regional pegmatite populations (Ginsburg and others, 1979; Stewart, 1978)
Q: Is the above quote generally applicable to James Bay? And if it differs, in what way?
Yes, the quote is directly applicable to James Bay
Q. Lake sediment. The recent announcement briefly discusses some Li results in lake sediments. Could you briefly explain the “natural neighbour method” and the significance of the result (>95th percentile; n = 6953)?
I’m a geologist, not a statistician, but it’s a simple way of interpolating and gridding points in GIS software and identifying clusters. Basically it helps identify anomalies (in the top 5%) in the data.
Q. Weathering. I’ve seen in other James Bay exploration, the cutting of channels in the pegmatite to access samples beneath the weathered surface. Is this something your team plans to do during the current exploration? Or would it be considered after other positive sampling results? Does your team currently have the capability?
Yes we have the capability and will do channel sampling in due course, once we identify mineralisation.
Q: how significant is black/grey tourmaline as an indicator? My understanding is that it is found in the walls of pegs, like an exterior shell (with lighter coloured tourmaline inside). How much does it correlate to spodumene inside the pegmatite? ie. can you have an empty tourmaline egg?
(Another of my holdings, Loyal Lithium, has shown pegs with indicator minerals that look exactly the same as neighbouring Adina, obviously this is positive, but I’m curious to understand details)
Tourmaline is an aluminosilicate (full of aluminium) and is one of the last things to crystalise in a granitic melt. So the presence of tourmaline is a good indicator of high-fractionation, but having it does not mean the peg will be mineralised.
Q. As the exploration manager also for PR1, can you speak to the relationship between the two explorers? They both hold large tenements in JB, what are the differences in the geology, landscape, and the experience during your initial trips?
I’m the Non-Exec Director of PR1 and technical advisor, so the relationship is pretty close and we are able to share some costs and knowledge along the way. Omnia ground seems to have far more pegmatites and a more interesting area at this stage. Another difference is the amount of work completed by the geological survey. The LdM project has at least had some good mapping completed over it whereas the PR1 ground is very sparsely mapped.
Q: Most of us hold LRS and are familiar with their geology in Brazil. In Canada, pegs seem much bigger, with >20m drill hits a regular occurrence. Can you speak in broad terms to the geological causes of this difference?
Canada does seem to be particularly special for these large, individual mineralised pegmatites. There are some beauties in WA too though. My thoughts would be different ages. You think all the biggest lithium deposits and pegs in the world seem to be Archean in age. Proterozoic have a lot of pegmatites but not on the same scale.
Q. There is a rush of new Lithium exploration in James Bay. What is the general feeling and your personal feeling of the geology of the whole region?
The prospectivity is as good as the eastern goldfields but has never had the exploration. The next generation of major discoveries are coming from and will come from here.
Q. Are you in contact with other Australian’s directors and geologists in JB? If so, is there a cooperative or a competitive vibe?
Yes I am and at this stage it’s all cooperative. OM1 is surrounded by Canadian players mostly but I imagine there’ll be deals done eventually, maybe they’re waiting to see how we go. But I have spoken to plenty of groups and mostly all happy to help.
Q. From your experience, how do the locals, including contractors, feel about the Ozzie presence?
They embrace it and are excited when they realise we’re not Canadian or American! Working in Quebec has been easier than working in WA recently.
Q. If JB is to become a major lithium hub, it will take time, state support and serious investment. There are obviously big risks for an investor. What do you see as the most significant risks?
The state and nation are already investing billions. The Quebec gov’t for example owns 50% stake in Wabouchi and has massive investments in all the potential JB lithium miners. The major hurdle for all potential miners will be environmental factors though. The state and national govt’s are collectively trying to speed things up but there’s no doubt that some of these mines are going to need to divert lakes and rivers etc. It’s not a deal breaker but it will take time.
Q. Anything else you’d like to add?
Always happy to chat
Q: Final question, did you choose James Bay because it has your name?
Absolutely.
Cheers,
James
(20min delay)