The Amanda project of Vanstar Mining, in James Bay, Quebec, has attracted the interest of Mosaic Minerals, which will explore the property for its lithium and gold potential.

In terms of the option agreement, Mosaic may acquire an initial 50% interest in exchange for $1-million in exploration expenditures and the issuance of four-million shares to Vanstar over the next three years.

Vanstar would then have the option to participate in a 50:50 joint venture or allow Mosaic to acquire an additional 30% interest in exchange for filing a National Instrument 43-101 resource report by the end of 2030.

“This agreement with Mosaic will allow a significant amount of exploration work on the Amanda project at no cost to Vanstar. Shareholders will continue to maximise their exposure to the value in the Nelligan project while having exposure to the exploration upside generated by exploration activities at Amanda,” said Vanstar president and CEO JC St-Amour.

Composed of 145 cells covering an area of ​​7 677 ha, this project is located on Eeyou Istchee territory, James Bay, approximately 65 km northeast of the Whabouchi lithium deposit (Nemaska).

In addition to containing several gold showings identified historically by prospecting and drilling, the Amanda property contains numerous pegmatites identified on the surface containing various minerals associated with the possible presence of spodumene such as beryl, cesium, tantalum and rubidium. The presence of accessory minerals such as muscovite, garnet and tourmaline in the environment of these pegmatites is also described in various reports from the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MERN).

Following the completion of surface prospecting work by the MERN, they counted the presence of a minimum of 17 pegmatites on the Amanda property. Also, following the analysis of historical drilling logs carried out on the Amanda project, the company identified the presence of other unidentified pegmatites, in sectors where there were none noted on the surface.

A rock sample taken from one of the pegmatites more than 1 km long identified on the surface by the MERN revealed a content of 31 parts per million (ppm) in lithium, 17 ppm in beryl, 34 ppm in cesium, 16 ppm in tantalum, as well as 1 000 ppm in rubidium.

In the western part of this pegmatite, drilling AC 2010-12 located about 50 m from the western edge of the Amanda property intersected it and the presence of pegmatites and spodumene would have been noted there by the geologist in charge of the project. According to historical data, no analysis was done to verify the presence of lithium in most of the pegmatites visited by the MERN as well as in the boreholes.

Located for the most part near iron formations, these holes had the objective of testing different surface showings for their gold potential. In addition to having intersected several significant gold values ​​at surface and near surface, these holes intersected several pegmatites not listed by the MERN.

With the addition of the Amanda project, Mosaic now owns nearly 75 000 ha spread over 11 projects focused on lithium and critical minerals located throughout Quebec.

“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Vanstar regarding the Amanda project. This project is located in a favourable geological environment for lithium due to the presence of numerous pegmatites as well as the presence of several indicator minerals. The drilling logs also show the presence of pegmatites in unlisted areas on the surface. This increases the potential for discovery. Our technical team should be on this project as soon as possible this season,” specified Mosaic president and CEO Jonathan Hamel.