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My Take on Snow Lake - May 5, 2017

Gold, zinc and copper ­– sure, but what about lithium?
Diamond drill bit, core barrel, and drillers on a 2010 east side of Wekusko drill project .
Diamond drill bit, core barrel, and drillers on a 2010 east side of Wekusko drill project .

Anyone who has called Snow Lake home now or in the past knows well the minerals that fuel the local economy – zinc, copper, gold, and silver. It is their metal-laden ore that has sprouted mines and enhanced pay envelopes since drills first bit ground locally back in the 1940s. But the community has been buzzing lately with news of a different mineral … one virtually unheard of in these parts. In fact there wasn’t much known about it at all until early in the 19th century. That mineral is lithium.

According to physicists, lithium was one of the three elements produced in large quantities when the earth was formed. The others were hydrogen and helium. Irrespective of that fact, the element makes up a meager 0.0007 per cent of the Earth’s crust. 

A writer from the Live Science website, Stephanie Pappas, says lithium is an unusual metal in many aspects. “It’s light and soft — so soft that it can be cut with a kitchen knife and so low in density that it floats on water,” wrote Pappas. “It’s also solid at a wide range of temperatures, with one of the lowest melting points of all metals and a high boiling point.”  

Lithium was first discovered by Brazilian naturalist Jozé Bonifácio de Andralda e Silva, but it appears the only use he found for it was the brilliant red flames it conjured when thrown into fire. A Swedish chemist named Johan August Arfvedson advanced the initial discovery in 1817, but wasn’t able to isolate the metal entirely. However, in 1855, British chemist Augustus Matthiessen and his German counterpart Robert Bunsen ran a current through lithium chloride in order to separate the element. Since then, lithium has edged into the mainstream, and currently has a multitude of uses: ceramics and glass, electrical and electronics, lubricating greases, metallurgy, silicon nano-welding, pyrotechnics, air purification, optics and medicine. It is this last one that may hold the reason the element sounds familiar to people.

Lithium is useful in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Lithium salts may also be helpful for related diagnoses, such as schizoaffective disorder and cyclic major depression. A September 13, 2014 New York Times story by Anna Fels revealed that studies found that naturally occurring lithium in drinking water correlates with lower levels of suicide. Nevertheless, psychiatrists are careful about prescribing lithium in high doses, particularly in respect to pregnant women. 

It is also the mineral’s high charge and power-to-weight ratio that has made it attractive to the automobile industry. In the move away from petroleum based vehicles to those powered by electricity; that ratio is critical. A typical lithium-ion battery can generate approximately three volts per cell, compared with 2.1 volts for lead-acid, or 1.5 volts for zinc-carbon cells.

World production of lithium has expanded 300 per cent in the years between 1980 and today. Deposits are found mainly in South America. Chile is the leading producer, followed by Argentina. However, half the world’s known reserves are located in Bolivia. The states of Wyoming and Nevada also figure into the scant list of deposits. So it was with great interest and optimism that folks around Snow Lake greeted news of the mineral being found in our local.

Back on July 5, 2016 a company called Far Resources signed a letter of understanding with Dan Ziehlke’s Strider Resources to acquire 100 per cent interest in all lithium-bearing pegmatite dikes on properties adjacent to Far’s own Zoro1 claim on the east side of Wekusko Lake. The letter spurred rock chip assays, an option agreement with Strider Resources, more exploration, and finally a drill program. On November 1, 2016, a drill was mobilized to the property and a seven-hole, 1,142 metre program was completed by mid-month. In early January 2017 the company announced that they had intersected 23m of 1.10 per cent Li2O (lithium oxide) during the seven-hole program. Subsequent to additional geological mapping and prospecting, Far Resources announced plans for a second drill program on March 27, 2017. On April 4, the drill had been mobilized and the second phase infill drill program was underway. They wrapped it up on April 25 after drilling 1,088 metres. From that program, workers logged 167 core samples, which were sent to a lab in Ontario for assay. Further action on the property awaits those results. 

With the world’s push towards cleaner and greener technology, people in Snow Lake weigh Far Resources CEO Keith Anderson’s recent statement on the Zoro with optimism. He says it is a lithium property that the company believes has great potential to provide lithium resources for the growing demand for lithium for batteries and green energy. 

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