The proceeds from the private placement, totalling $250,000, will be used to fund an exploration program for
tantalum on the Company's 100% owned Separation Rapids project, Kenora, Ontario. This program, to
commence immediately, will involve a re-evaluation of the tantalum grade of the Big Whopper petalite deposit
and diamond drilling of selected tantalum targets located peripheral to the Big Whopper. The drilling program is
scheduled to get underway in late March. The highest priority tantalum target is the Lepidolite Dyke, located
100 metres east of the Big Whopper, which produced tantalum grades of up to 0.014% Ta2O5 across a 7.0
metre true width, using the ICP-MS analytical method.
A check assay program on the core samples from the 1997-98 drilling programs on the Big Whopper revealed
that the analytical method used (ICP-MS) on relatively small sub-samples typically underestimates tantalum
concentrations by 30-35% when compared with results obtained using the more reliable Neutron Activation
Analysis ("NAA") method on larger sub-samples. Therefore, a suite of archived pulverized drill core samples
from the Big Whopper will be re-assayed for tantalum using the NAA method, to provide a better estimate of the
average tantalum grade of the 11.6 million tonne Big Whopper petalite deposit. |
