Grid Metals Corp. (the “Company“) (TSXV:GRDM)(OTCQB:MSMGF) is pleased to report initial results from its 2022 lithium exploration program at its Donner Lake lithium property in southeastern Manitoba. The Company completed 11 drill holes targeting the Northwest Dyke – one of several known lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) -type pegmatite dykes on the property. All holes at the Northwest Dyke intersected spodumene-bearing pegmatites over a strike length of 600m. Two drill holes were completed on the West Dykes and numerous smaller pegmatites were intercepted. The new drilling at the Northwest Dyke was the first since 1955. The company is awaiting results on the other holes. The project is located in southeastern Manitoba in the Winnipeg River pegmatite field, which hosts the world-class Tanco Pegmatite.
Overview of Initial Drillholes
- At the Northwest dyke, a LCT-type pegmatite, the first hole of the program (GDL22-01) intersected 13.75 metres averaging 1.53% Li2O including a maximum grade of 2.06% Li2O starting at a downhole depth of 86 metres.
- GLD22-02 was drilled on the same setup at a shallower dip and intersected a 9.4 metre pegmatite with 1.47% Li2O over 8.0 metres and a maximum grade of 2.28% Li2O starting at a downhole depth of 57.0 metres.
- The pegmatite intersected in both holes contains visible spodumene quartz intergrowths (SQUI) and discrete spodumene crystals (see photographs, below).
- Both intersections also have elevated tantalum (Ta), cesium and rubidium.
- The estimated true width of the Northwest Dyke from the initial two drill holes reported is 7 to 8 metres.
- In total, 11 holes were completed on the Northwest Dyke and established a minimum strike length of 600 metres and a minimum vertical depth of ~200 metres.
- The Northwest Dyke remains open along strike in both directions and at depth.
Above: Cross section showing Li2O (%) grades for the Northwest Dyke intersections in drill holes GDL22-01 and GDL22-02, Donner Lake Lithium property.
Above: 2022 drill hole locations for the Northwest Dyke at the Donner Lake Lithium Property showing the current surface projection of the main pegmatite body (thick pink line) and the Li2O grades obtained for holes GDL22-01 and GLD22-02.
Above: Northwest dyke intersection in drill hole GDL22-01, Donner Lake property. NQ core size.
Above: Close up of lithium-bearing spodumene quartz intergrowth (SQUI) in GLD22-02. The one metre sample assayed 2.28% Li2O.
Above: Location of Donner Lake Lithium Project – 180 km northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Above: Area of the Northwest (NW) and Main Dykes at the Donner Lake Lithium Property.
Above: Currently known LCT-type pegmatite dykes at the Donner Lake Lithium Property.
About the Donner Lake Lithium Property
- The property is owned 75% by Grid Metals Corp. and 25% by Lithium Royalty Corp. (LRC), which is funding 25% of the current exploration program. LRC holds an overriding 2% royalty on the property.
- The property was acquired by Grid from Tantalum Mining Corporation of Canada Limited (Tanco) which has the first right to acquire products produced from the property at commercial terms and holds a 2% royalty on certain claims.
- Tanco is currently operating a lithium spodumene circuit at the Tanco Mine – the mine is located approximately 35 km to the southwest of the Donner Lake Property.
- Donner Lake is only 180 km from the provincial capital of Winnipeg and accessible by all season roads and logging trails.
- Grid Metals has an exploration agreement in place with the Sagkeeng First Nation, whose Traditional Lands include the Donner Lake and Mayville properties.
- The project has the opportunity to access low-cost renewable power from Manitoba’s extensive hydro-electric grid.
- There are multiple LCT-type pegmatite dykes on the property including the Main Dyke that, in 2018, was drill tested by Grid over a ~1 km strike length. The dykes are located along a ~9 km long prospective geological contact between the Bird River greenstone belt and the Makwa Lake batholith and occupy obvious structural trends.
- The property is significantly underexplored with a large portion of the prospective geology having seen no prior lithium exploration.
Carey Galeschuk, Grid’s Vice President, Lithium, stated: “The strong and consistent grade from our initial drill intercepts of the Northwest dyke is encouraging. The Donner Lake Lithium Property remains prime hunting ground for additional LCT-type pegmatite discoveries. In this program at the Northwest Dyke we are looking to see additional, good lithium grades within the host pegmatite body along strike and to depth to enable us to build an initial NI 43-101 mineral resource. The vertical orientation, width and grade of mineralization observed in the first two holes are certainly good indicators of the potential of the project” he added.
To date the Company has completed 13 exploration drill holes totalling 2,779 metres on the Donner Lake lithium property. Eleven drill holes targeted the Northwest Dyke and two holes targeted the West Dykes, located to the south. The program represents the first phase of drilling at Donner Lake for 2022. Complete analytical results for the Northwest Dyke intersections reported here for holes GDL22-01 and GDL22-02 are provided in the Appendix.
The two best-defined dykes on the Property are the Main Dyke, which has been traced over strike length of approximately 1 km, and the Northwest Dyke, the subject of the recent drilling. A non-compliant historical resource of 3.8 million tons at a grade of 1.28% Li2O (Manitoba Mines Branch Assessment file 91769A) was calculated for the Main and Northwest dykes by ViolaMac Mines Ltd. based on drilling completed in 1955. This resource estimate cannot be independently verified by the Company. The Company is looking to complete additional drilling over the coming months to establish a maiden NI 43-101 lithium resource on the Property.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Grid Metals applies best practice quality assurance and quality control (“QAQC”) protocols on all of its exploration programs. For the Donner Lake drilling program, core was logged and sampled at the Company’s core facility located on the Makwa Property. Generally, 1.0 metre sample lengths were used. Samples were bagged and tagged and then transported by secure carrier to the Actlabs (Thunder Bay) laboratory for sample preparation and analysis for lithium, cesium, tantalum and selected major and trace element abundances using a sodium peroxide fusion total digestion method followed by ICP-OES and ICP-MS analysis. The Company is using two lithium + rare metal certified reference materials (“CRMs”) and two analytical blanks for the Donner Lake program to monitor analytical accuracy and check for cross contamination between samples.
Dave Peck, P.Geo., has reviewed the contents of this press release and is the qualified person for purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
About Grid Metals Corp.
Grid Metals Corp. has a portfolio of exploration and development stage properties focused on battery metals (nickel, copper, platinum group metals, cobalt, palladium) which are located in the Provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. The Company recently completed winter exploration drilling at the Company’s Makwa nickel property and a separate press release will be forthcoming to update the results and progress there.
To find out more about Grid Metals Corp., please visit www.gridmetalscorp.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp.
Robin Dunbar – President, CEO & Director
Telephone: 647 201 6844 Email: rd@gridmetalscorp.com
David Black – Investor Relations Email: info@gridmetalscorp.com 416 955-4773
Appendix 1: Analytical Results, Drill Hole GDL22-01, Northwest Pegmatite Dyke, Donner Lake Lithium Property, Southeastern Manitoba.
| Sample# | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Li2O (%) | Ta (ppm) | Cs (ppm) | Rb2O (%) |
| 856403 | 86.15 | 86.50 | 0.35 | 0.10 | 113 | 131 | 0.22 |
| 856404 | 86.50 | 87.50 | 1.00 | 0.20 | 134 | 165 | 0.24 |
| 856405 | 87.50 | 88.00 | 0.50 | 1.51 | 69 | 171 | 0.23 |
| 856406 | 88.00 | 88.75 | 0.75 | 0.77 | 106 | 243 | 0.35 |
| 856408 | 88.75 | 89.75 | 1.00 | 1.58 | 173 | 313 | 0.39 |
| 856409 | 89.75 | 90.75 | 1.00 | 1.84 | 92 | 189 | 0.30 |
| 856410 | 90.75 | 91.75 | 1.00 | 1.50 | 72 | 199 | 0.28 |
| 856412 | 91.75 | 92.75 | 1.00 | 1.01 | 69 | 195 | 0.34 |
| 856413 | 92.75 | 93.75 | 1.00 | 1.67 | 107 | 186 | 0.28 |
| 856414 | 93.75 | 94.75 | 1.00 | 1.75 | 60 | 121 | 0.21 |
| 856415 | 94.75 | 95.75 | 1.00 | 1.54 | 72 | 148 | 0.21 |
| 856417 | 95.75 | 96.75 | 1.00 | 1.40 | 91 | 192 | 0.34 |
| 856418 | 96.75 | 97.75 | 1.00 | 1.56 | 87 | 215 | 0.41 |
| 856419 | 97.75 | 98.75 | 1.00 | 2.06 | 60 | 135 | 0.28 |
| 856420 | 98.75 | 99.75 | 1.00 | 1.38 | 57 | 159 | 0.30 |
| 856422 | 99.75 | 100.50 | 0.75 | 1.93 | 51 | 151 | 0.25 |
| 856423 | 100.50 | 101.25 | 0.75 | 1.32 | 52 | 164 | 0.31 |
| 856424 | 101.25 | 101.60 | 0.35 | 0.17 | 67 | 168 | 0.26 |
| Li-rich | 87.50 | 101.25 | 13.75 | 1.53 | 100 | 186 | 0.30 |
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Appendix 2: Analytical Results, Drill Hole GDL22-02, Northwest Pegmatite Dyke, Donner Lake Lithium Property, Southeastern Manitoba.
| Sample# | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Li2O (%) | Ta (ppm) | Cs (ppm) | Rb2O (%) |
| 856453 | 55.90 | 56.10 | 0.20 | 0.09 | 93 | 96 | 0.15 |
| 856454 | 56.10 | 57.00 | 0.90 | 0.12 | 104 | 142 | 0.24 |
| 856455 | 57.00 | 58.00 | 1.00 | 1.06 | 79 | 160 | 0.26 |
| 856457 | 58.00 | 59.00 | 1.00 | 1.38 | 164 | 322 | 0.45 |
| 856458 | 59.00 | 60.00 | 1.00 | 1.47 | 144 | 274 | 0.37 |
| 856460 | 60.00 | 61.00 | 1.00 | 1.83 | 100 | 154 | 0.26 |
| 856461 | 61.00 | 61.92 | 0.92 | 1.35 | 52 | 157 | 0.29 |
| 856463 | 61.92 | 62.08 | 0.16 | 0.35 | 36 | 375 | 0.20 |
| 856464 | 62.08 | 63.00 | 0.92 | 1.14 | 56 | 122 | 0.27 |
| 856465 | 63.00 | 64.00 | 1.00 | 1.42 | 83 | 140 | 0.27 |
| 856467 | 64.00 | 65.00 | 1.00 | 2.28 | 34 | 105 | 0.21 |
| 856468 | 65.00 | 65.30 | 0.30 | 0.08 | 59 | 104 | 0.24 |
| Li-rich | 57.00 | 65.00 | 8.00 | 1.47 | 89 | 184 | 0.29 |
| Section |
SOURCE: Grid Metals Corp.