A Vancouver cesium and lithium exploration outfit has hired an Indigenous-owned drilling company for its latest campaign near the Quebec border.
Power Metals announced it's engaged Black Diamond Drilling Services to complete a third round of drilling at its Case Lake property, 80 kilometres east of Cochrane.
Black Diamond Drilling is a First Nation company-owned by the community of Apitipi Anicinapek Nation (ANN), formerly Wahgoshig First Nation, located near Matheson.
A Nov. 6 Power Metals news release said the thrust of the drilling program is to target and extend some identified cesium zones at the West Joe and Main Zone areas of the Case Lake project. About 2,000 metres of exploration is on tap.
The junior miner said Black Diamond brings to the table a “highly-experienced team” with knowledge of the minerally prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northeastern Ontario. The release said Black Diamond currently has its drill rigs turning on properties belonging to McEwen Mining and Alamos Gold.
In a statement, Power Metals CEO Haydn Daxter was pleased to have Black Diamond on board. He said the company intends to forge a strong partnership with ANN in many areas of its business.
“Delivering local work to the local communities we operate in is a priority for our company and we believe this is the beginning of a strong partnership with this First Nation company.”
Apitipi Resources president Lance Black, the parent company of Black Diamond Drilling, said Power Metals has been a solid partner on the consultation and business front.
"I am pleased to say that Power Metals has been engaging extremely well with the implementation of our exploration agreement. They consult with our team regularly and have site visits with our Lands and Resources Department about activity on our land and meet with our team in person to discuss the exploration activities.”
Members of Apitipi Anicinapek Nation recently completed a water sampling program on the Case Lake property to monitor various points on the waterway system, including lake and tributary locations. This followed a recent training program on the collection and analysis of water samples that involved community members and Blue Heron Environmental Consultants in Timmins.
Power Metals said it developed this initiative in conjunction with traditional landowners to work together and share technical data on waterways of the Case Lake region.
The Case Lake project is a 95-square-kilometre exploration land package that contains high-grade cesium, lithium and tantalum, all categorized by the Canadian and U.S. governments as critical minerals. Power Metals has been releasing a steady news flow of drill results this fall from its second phase of drilling at its West Joe zone, showing high-grade hits of these minerals.
Power Metals has held the property since 2017, conducting more than 22,000 metres of exploration drilling. The main investor in Case Lake is Winsome Resources, an Australian financier which came aboard in 2022.
