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Pioneer Resources to proceed with Mavis Lithium Project Acquisition and Strategic Alliance
Due Diligence Successfully Completed
Perth, Western Australia, 22 June 2016: Pioneer Resources Limited ("Company" or "Pioneer") (ASX: PIO) is pleased to announce that it has completed its due diligence investigations, and has elected to exercise its option to earn into the Mavis Lithium Project, under a strategic alliance with International Lithium Corp. ("ILC") (TSX.V: ILC). The Project is situated in the Canadian province of Ontario.
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Due Diligence on Mavis Lithium Project in Canada satisfactorily completed; and
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Mavis Lithium Project Strategic Alliance with International Lithium Corp. to proceed.
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Exploration Personnel on-site. Field programmes to include:
o A comprehensive geophysical survey to locate pegmatites in underexplored areas; o Litho and soil geochemistry surveys to highlight prospective pegmatite targets; and o Diamond core drilling programme.
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Identification and assessment of further lithium projects
ILC geologists are currently on site at the Mavis Lithium Project, and additional field staff from Coast Mountain Geological Ltd and members of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation have commenced initial field programmes, comprising ground magnetic, litho-geochemistry and soil surveys, which are scheduled for completion in July 2016, with Diamond core drilling to follow.
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Ground Magnetic Surveys will be used to identify blind, near-surface pegmatite emplacements. Pegmatites typically have low magnetic susceptibility when compared with the encompassing basaltic host rock. The magnetometer survey will be very detailed, taking continuous readings along lines that are spaced 50 metres apart. Approximately 250 line kms are planned and will provide the first property- wide comprehensive magnetic susceptibility modelling utilizing the most up-to-date technology;
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Litho-geochemical Surveys sample outcropping rocks to identify the presence of distinct geochemical signatures which form a halo in the basaltic host rocks within several metres of rare metal pegmatites. Experience at the Mavis Lithium Project has demonstrated that these rare metal dispersion halos can be very well developed in areas where pegmatites are known, but more importantly, indicate areas of proximity where pegmatites are buried under soil cover, or do not outcrop;
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Soil Geochemistry Surveys are used to identify rare metal dispersion halos expressed in soils where there is limited outcrop to perform a litho-geochemical survey.
These surveys, when combined with prospecting and mapping are intended to identify high priority targets for a subsequent drill programme. Already field reconnaissance this year at the Pegmatite 18 prospect has confirmed an untested spodumene-bearing pegmatite with a surface outcropping strike length in excess of 200m.
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Drilling: 1,500m of orientated Diamond drilling is forecast. Holes will further test key spodumene intersections from earlier drilling and channel samples including those obtained from 2011 and 2012, at both the Fairservice (Pegmatites 3-6) and Mavis Lake (Pegmatites 17- 18) sites, and with an additional allocation for new targets. Dependent upon the completion of the preliminary field surveys and obtaining regulatory approvals, drilling is likely to commence in September 2016.
The Mavis Lithium Project and the Pioneer-ILC Strategic Alliance
Grey-green spodumene crystals in pegmatite at the Fairservice Prospect.
Cream spodumene crystals in Diamond drill core from hole MF-12-24, Fairservice Prospect, drilled in 2012.
Pioneer's Managing Director, David Crook, with a sample of spodumene-bearing pegmatite on site at the Fairservice Prospect in June 2016.
(Top) John Harrop, Dr Fred Breaks, Mike Sieb (ILC) and Adam Peterson (Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation) atop a spodumene-mineralised pegmatite.
(Lower) Spodumene megacrystal.
The Agreement with International Lithium Corp provides Pioneer with an immediate, direct exposure to the lithium sector through equity in the Mavis Lithium Project (including the Fairservice and Mavis Lake Prospects), which have known, strongly mineralised, lithium (spodumene) - bearing pegmatites.
Pioneer Managing Director Mr David Crook said:
"We are pleased to report that the due diligence process for the Mavis Lithium Project acquisition and Strategic Alliance has now been satisfactorily completed. The recent visit to the Mavis Lithium Project served to validate and enhance our view of the project's potential and we look forward to working with our partner, International Lithium, to advance the project and thereby add significant value for our shareholders. Field crews are on-site and we look forward to updating the market on our plans and progress in due course."
2016 drilling will initially expand on intersections from 2011 and 2012 programmes, which demonstrated the presence of high-grade, well-evolved, lithium bearing pegmatites; and then move onto new targets.
Table 1: Highlight Drilling Intersections from the 2011 and 2012 programmes.1
MF-11-08: 7m at 1.83% Li2O from4m
MF-11-09: 7.8m at 1.86% Li2O from18.85m
MF-11-12: 16m at 1.53% Li2O from125m
MF-11-12: 26.25m at 1.55% Li2O from152m
MF-11-13: 5m at 1.44% Li2O from19m
MF-11-14: 3m at 2.15% Li2O from24m
MF-12-24: 16.4m at 1.86% Li2O from161.9m
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MF-12-25: 5.15m at 1.75% Li2O from130.7m
MF-12-28: 6m at 2.53% Li2O from6m
MF-12-30: 6.95m at 1.45% Li2O from32.25m
MF-12-33: 3m at 2.26% Li2O from22m
MF-12-34: 5m at 1.5% Li2O from24m
MF-12-36: 6m at 1.48% Li2O from31m
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The highest lithium values on the Mavis Lake Property occur in albite-spodumene-type pegmatites such as Pegmatite 18. Earlier sampling on the Pegmatite 18 prospect by ILC returned grab samples grading up to 3.14% Li₂O2 and one composite channel sample across part of Pegmatite 18 graded 1.22% Li₂O2 over 5.3m).
Note 1: Drill core lengths and have not been converted into true width. Appropriate rounding of Li2O (lithia) values applied. Note 2: Clarke JG, Breaks FW, Osmani IA, 2010.
The Mavis Lithium Project covers an area of 2624 hectares in north-western Ontario, Canada. Pioneer and ILC have formed a strategic alliance to explore the Project using ILC's existing Canadian-based technical team.
The Mavis Lithium Project is situated 19 kilometres from the town of Dryden, Ontario and approximately 300 kilometres via the Trans-Canada Highway from Thunder Bay, an industrial centre in Ontario. Rail and power is readily available as well as a skilled workforce, experienced in sustainable natural resource development.
Twenty significant sized pegmatites have been identified to date in outcrop within the Mavis Lithium Project properties, within a supporting lithium soil geochemistry anomaly. Individual outcrops vary in strike length from 11 metres to more than 240 metres and range in thickness of up to 12 metres. To date, three generations of drilling since the 1960s have systematically demonstrated that pegmatites at the Fairservice Prospect are strongly mineralised, and the first drill holes into the Mavis Lake Prospect, drilled in 2011, also intersected spodumene.
About Pioneer Resources Limited
Pioneer is an active junior exploration company focused on the exploration for key global demand-driven commodities. This includes a portfolio of high quality lithium assets, in Canada and Western Australia, and a portfolio of strategically located gold and other commodity projects in sought after mining regions in WA.
The Company aims to deliver shareholder value by actively strengthening its project portfolio through acquiring, pegging and reviewing new opportunities, and targeted exploration programs to facilitate the discovery and commercialisation of high value mineral resources.
The Company is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in this announcement.
Managing Director
Pioneer Resources Limited
For further information please contact:
David Crook
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James Moses
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Managing Director
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Media and Investor Relations
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Pioneer Resources Limited
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Mandate Corporate
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T: +61 8 9322 6974
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M: +61 420 991 574
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E: [email protected]
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E: [email protected]
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Glossary
"Li2O"means Lithia, or Lithium Oxide, and is the elemental metal quantity converted to its oxide (in percent (%)), which is a form of reporting used for lithium in scientific literature. The conversion factor for Li to Li2O is2.152.
"Spodumene" is a lithium aluminosilicate (pyroxene) found in certain rare-element pegmatites, with the formula LiAlSi2O6. Spodumene is the principal lithium mineral sourced from pegmatites and is the preferred source for high purity lithium products.
"Be" means beryllium, "B" boron, "Cs" caesium, "Li" Lithium, "Nb" niobium, "Rb" rubidium, "Sb" antimony, "Sn" tin, "Ta" tantalum.
"Pegmatite" is a common plutonic rock of variable texture and coarseness that is composed of interlocking crystals of widely different sizes. They are formed by fractional crystallization of an incompatible element-enriched granitic melt. Several factors control whether or not barren granite will fractionate to produce a fertile granite melt (Černý 1991; Breaks 2003):
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presence of trapped volatiles: fertile granites crystallize from a volatile-rich melt.
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composition of melt: fertile granites are derived from an aluminium-rich melt.
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source of magma: barren granites are usually derived from the partial melting of an igneous source (I- type), whereas fertile granites are derived from partial melting of a peraluminous sedimentary source (S- type).
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degree of partial melting: fertile granites require a high degree of partial melting of the source rock that produced the magma.
Initially, fractional crystallization of a granitic melt will form barren granite consisting of common rock forming minerals such as quartz, potassium feldspar, plagioclase and mica. As a result, incompatible rare elements, such as Be, Li, Nb, Ta, Cs, B, which do not easily fit into the crystal of these common rock-forming minerals, become increasingly concentrated in the granitic melt as common rock forming minerals continue to crystallize and separate from the melt.