Durango Resources Inc. announced that after further review of the 2022 drilling and field mapping program at its wholly owned Discovery property the pegmatite dykes show promising lithium potential. The Discovery Property adjoins Sayona Mining Ltd. in the highly prospective James Bay Territory, 100km north of Chibougamau, Québec in the Frotet-Evans greenstone belt. In the summer of 2022, Durango announced the completion of a 1,737m exploration drill campaign in an area with known surface gold anomalies on the Discovery Property.

The program was designed to test for the source of the surface gold anomalies which assayed up to 14 g/t Au. Six drill test holes were conducted in a small area where the surface gold was encountered, and the assays returned elevated lithium, rubidium, and cesium in each of the drill holes. A total of 225 meters spanning all six drillholes (18, 28, 89, 19, 24, 47 meters in holes DE-22-01 to DE-22-06 respectively) contained lithium values over 100ppm which also coincided with rubidium and cesium anomalies.

Average lithium, rubidium and cesium values over this length were 185ppm, 250ppm and 57ppm respectively. The maximum values were 859ppm lithium, 3,830ppm rubidium and 436ppm cesium. An average total of rare earths for this interval was 94ppm with a maximum of 806ppm.

The values were found to be present in metasomatic halos around pegmatite dykes. This is a known phenomenon that can occur in LCT (lithium, cesium, tantalum) pegmatites where there is an early expulsion of an aqueous fluid from the dyke during emplacement (Errandonea-Martin et al., 2022). Elevated copper and zinc were also present in three holes, reaching up to 2,100ppm copper and up to 4,740ppm zinc. In 2023 the fires prevented much of the planned exploration at the Discovery Property, but the fires were successful in exposing additional outcrops on the property.

Ten pegmatite dykes were mapped at surface in 2022 over a relatively small area of the property with lengths ranging from a few meters to 55 meters in length. Four additional pegmatite dykes were mapped in 2023 on a brief field visit to assess the extent of the summer fires. None of these dykes have been tested at depth and the newly exposed pegmatite outcrops are located over a kilometre away from the previously known dykes.

The company is investigating its options on the best way to move the project forward and additional updates will be announced as soon as they become available on the exploration program. The exploration team has recommended additional mapping and follow-up drilling for 2024.