Azimut says drill program at James Bay property encountered antimony, gold

Azimut Exploration (TSXV: AZM) reported drill results as high as 6.5 metres grading 3.43% antimony and 2.37 grams gold per tonne at its Wabamisk project in Quebec’s James Bay region.That result, part of what the company called “very encouraging” results in hole WS25-40 from 3 metres depth in the property’s Fortin zone, included 51.5 metres at 1.1% antimony and 0.38 gram gold, Azimut said Thursday.Antimony, listed as a critical mineral by Canada, the United States and the European Commission, has seen its price soar in recent months after China – which accounts for 60% of global output – imposed export restrictions, triggering supply shortages.Neither Canada nor the US produce the metal, which recently traded at $58,000 per tonne in Rotterdam, though some projects with antimony – such as Perpetua Resources’ (Nasdaq, TSX: PPTA) Stibnite site in Idaho – could start production in a few years.Perpetua Resources gets final federal permit for Stibnite Gold project in IdahoSome 28 holes returned intervals grading more than 0.2% antimony, including 15 that also yielded gold intervals of more than 1 gram over at least 1 metre, Azimut said. Of that number, eight had grades above 4 grams over at least 1 metre.Expanded drill programAzimut began drilling at Wabamisk in late 2024 to follow up on a surface discovery in the Fortin zone. The program, which was expanded in January and concluded in March, included 51 diamond drill holes over 6,396 metres. Results will support the preparation of the summer campaign, which is set to comprise 10,000 metres of infill and expansion drilling.Other notable results released Thursday include those of hole WS24-06, which cut 1.08% antimony and 0.53 grams gold over 22.7 metres from 78.5 metres downhole. This included 1.74% antimony and 1.15 grams gold over 9.5 metres.Wabamisk’s antimony-rich zone may transition to a deeper gold-rich zone, Azimut said. Further drilling will test for antimony-gold vertical zoning, a pattern observed in several deposits around the world.Subparallel trendAbout 300 metres south of the Fortin zone, five holes were drilled to test a subparallel trend. Hole WS25-35 cut 0.39 grams gold over 8.8 metres from 28 metres downhole, including 1.49 grams gold over 1.5 metres from 35.5 metres.Wabamisk, which comprises 662 claims covering about 351 sq. km., lies 13 km east of Fury Gold Mines’ (TSX, NYSE: FURY) Clearwater property. Other projects in the area include Nemaska Lithium’s (TSX: NMX) Whabouchi lithium deposit, in which Rio Tinto (ASX, LSE: RIO) is an investor, and Dhilmar’s Eleonore gold mine, which sits 70 km away. The nearest town is Nemaska, a Cree village municipality 55 km to the southeast.Azimut shares fell 1.7% to C$0.59 in Toronto Stock Exchange trading Thursday midday. That gave the company a market capitalization of about C$51 million.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com