Manganese X Energy Corp. [MN-TSXV; SNCGF-OTC; 9SC2-FSE; SSM-Lima] said Friday July 12 that it has struck a deal to acquire a 100%-beneficial interest in the Lac Aux Bouleaux (LAB) graphite property in southern Quebec. The property covers 738.12 hectares and is located near the town of Mont-Laurier. The project is also contiguous to the south of Imerys SA’s TIMCAL Graphite and Carbon’s Lac des Iles graphite mine in Quebec.
The Lac des Iles graphite mine has the capacity to produce 25,000 tonnes of graphite annually.
The company recently completed an updated NI 43-101 technical report which describes historical exploration work on the property and will be filed on SEDAR, the company said.
The report notes that past exploration intersected significant graphite mineralization in drill holes and trenches. Preliminary metallurgical tests delivered recoveries of up to 96%.
Manganese X said the high percentage of large flake graphite is positive for a high quality premium priced product. It also said infrastructure is excellent with road access and electrical power on site.
Manganese X shares were unchanged at 13 cents on Friday. The shares are trading in a 52-week range of $0.08 and 19.5 cents.
Graphite was initially discovered on the LAB property in 1957. Exploration has since been conducted by various operators until 2018. For example, during 2017 and 2018, Graphite Energy Corp. carried out exploration work on the property, including prospecting, trenching, channel sampling and diamond core drilling on historically identified targets.
Surface sampling work indicated graphite carbon in the range of 2.20% to 22.30% Cg (Graphitic Carbon). Graphite Energy also completed four diamond core drill holes in 2018. These holes were drilled around a historical graphite pit and each hole intersected significant graphite mineralization.
Highlights included 11.70% CG over 1.55 metres from 23.55 metres, and 9.24% Cg over 3.1 metres from 86.30 metres below surface.
Manganese X acquired the LAB graphite property under an agreement dated June 24, 2019, allowing it to earn a 100% interest, subject to a 2.0% NSR royalty to the vendor, by paying $10,000 in cash and issuing $40,000 worth of the company’s shares.
Manganese X has previously said it intends to be a supplier of secure, ethically-sourced manganese from its Battery Hill deposit, located near Woodstock, New Brunswick. The project covers 1,228 hectares in Carleton County, and encompasses all or part of five manganese zones, Iron Ore Hill, Moody Hill, Sharpe Farm, Wakefield and Maple Hill. The company recently said it has been able to produce manganese sulfate with a purity exceeding 99.6% and very low levels of base and alkali metals. Its aim is to produce a high purity (plus 99.9%) battery grade manganese product for the growing electric vehicle and energy storage sectors. Highlights from drilling on the Shape Farm and Moody Hill areas of the deposit include17.37% MnO over 23.6 metres within a broader zone assaying 13.9% MnO over 44.6 metres.