The fall 2020 drill program, consisting of 28 holes totalling 4,509 metres, was designed to increase the mineral resource of the Moody Hill zone. Drilling would also provide sufficient data for Manganese X to establish an NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate, expected in late Q1 2021.
Upon completion of the resource estimate, the company will initiate programs for a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of the Battery Hill project.
A historic resource estimate (1957) covering the current Battery Hill property, based on a gravity survey and limited drilling, had 39 million tonnes grading 9% Mn.
It was concluded that the Moody Hill area may contain at least 9.07 million tonnes of approximately 9.5% Mn. At the Sharpe Farm occurrence, just to the north of Moody Hill, there was an estimated 7.25 million tonnes of 9% Mn, and at Iron Ore Hill 22.68 million tonnes of 10% Mn.
Recent drilling on Battery Hill showed that the overall property hosts “significant tonnage potential” along its 7 km length, with three of the five known manganese occurrences (including Moody Hill) having historical, non-compliant resource estimates, Manganese X CEO Martin Kepman said.
Drill core assays from Moody Hill returned grades as high as 27.69% MnO, confirming the presence of significant widths of mineralization from surface to a maximum vertical depth of 150 m over a 500 m strike length.
A new area of surface mineralization has also been discovered in the Maple Hill area, approximately 4.4 km north of Moody Hill. The average of five grab samples graded 20.8% MnO.
Meanwhile, Manganese X will continue metallurgical work to improve the recovery rate, reduce the overall processing costs and upgrade its battery grade 99.95% purification process to produce EV compliant low contaminant manganese products.
Shares of Manganese X Energy fell 7.8% as of 1 p.m. in Toronto. The company has a market capitalization of approximately C$86.8 million.
