Greenlight Resource Acquires Golden Grove Graphite deposit
Post Date: 20 Aug 2011 Viewed: 515
GREENLIGHT RESOURCES INC., is pleased to announce that it has acquired by staking approximately 400 acres over the Golden Grove Graphite deposit located 24 kilometres northeast of Saint John, NB. The area has a history of high grade graphite mining as it was mined in this area between about 1880 and 1910.
Dr Ian Flint of Halifax, Nova Scotia, recently reviewed the metallurgical potential of this deposit and recommended the property be acquired to assess its economic potential. Recently having completed ten year tenure as a professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Dalhousie University, Dr. Flint achieved his PhD in Mining and Mineral Processing Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 2001. Previously he acquired a Master in Arts and Science, Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1989. His academic work has focused on independent industrial process design including graphite, lithium physical and chemical separations, feldspars, oil removal, cosmetics, mica, diamonds, river energy and tidal energy.
Graphite is a conductive, chemically inert mineral that is a key component to almost all batteries, fuel cells, brake pads, and is also a critical component in both the metallurgical and electrical industries. Graphite is similar to rare earths minerals in that they are largely monopolized by China. Current and planned production of high quality graphite is only a small fraction of the projected requirements of the battery and automotive industries. Dr. Flint commented, “this suggests that the price of high quality graphite will at least maintain its current price of approximately $2,400 per tonne, and possibly approach that of synthetic graphite which currently sells for in excess of $19,000 per tonne.”
The Deposit has been known since the mid 1930’s when a shaft was put down to a depth of 4.3 meters on a vein of graphite up to 1.3 meters wide. A sample taken by Provincial Geologist W.J. Wright in 1939 which assayed 31.74% graphite.
No further work was conducted on the Golden Grove claims until 1982, when Glenvet Resources acquired the property and carried out mapping, geophysics, trenching, and metallurgical testing. The initial metallurgical testing determined that an acceptable commercial product could be produced from the property which was subsequently diamond drilled (22 holes 2046.32 meters) in order to assess the physical dimensions of the graphite veins. A total of approximately 25,000 ton of 22.37% graphitic carbon was blocked out at this time. It was determined by Glenvet that the resource was insufficient to support a commercial operation. However, additional work was recommended for the property but was never carried out. No work has been carried out on the property since 1987.
The property is hosted by Neoproterozoic carbonates and quartzite of the Ashburn Formation. The Ashburn Fm. rocks occur as an inlier or roof pendant within gabbro, diorite and granodiorite of the Duck Lake Gabbro and French Village Quartz Diorite Formations ((Golden Grove Intrusive Suite).
Readers are warned that “historical records” referred to in this release have been examined but not verified by a “Qualified Person” a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Therefore, the issuer is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource and the historical estimate should not be relied upon.
Plans are underway to examine and sample the trenches and rock dumps to obtain samples of the high grade graphite to establish grain morphology. Sampling of the walls will also be undertaken to see if there is lower grade graphite between the high grade zones. Drill core from previous drill programs on the property are accessible and will be re-logged and sampled where necessary. Prospecting and mapping is also planned with a view to developing a larger tonnage deposit.