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Allison Lake
Portofino Resources Inc. (“Portofino”) has the right to earn a 100% interest in the 7 mining claims totaling 2,288 hectares (“Allison Lake”), located in northwestern Ontario (Canada). Allison Lake is approximately 100 kilometers east of the municipality of Red Lake, accessible by well-established logging roads with high voltage power lines transecting the claim group. Allison Lake contains significant attributes that are key to the formation of lithium-bearing pegmatite dykes. It is positioned along the contact between the Allison Lake pegmatite granite batholith and the Jubilee Lake metasedimentary rocks of the Uchi Subprovince in northwestern Ontario.
REGIONAL BACKGROUND
The 2003 Ontario Geological Survey (“Breaks”) report described the Allison Lake batholith as the largest known peraluminous granitic body in northwestern Ontario. Breaks concluded that, “the Allison Lake batholith represents an important new exploration target for rare-element mineralization and is the largest such granite thus far documented in Ontario. This area has high potential for further discoveries of rare-element mineralization”.
Based upon samples analyzed and included in the Breaks report, the outer rim of the Allison Lake batholith possesses anomalously high concentrations of rare elements including lithium (“Li”).
Northwestern Ontario is host to several well-known Li and rare earth elements deposits that have delineated resources and preliminary economic assessment studies (Figure 2). Of note is the PAK Li deposit along the ‘Electric Avenue’ which contains one of North America’s highest-grade, large tonnage hard-rock Li resources. The PAK deposit has a mineral reserve in the proven and probable categories of 5.77 MT averaging 2.06% Li2O. The Spark Deposit, located 2.5km northwest of the PAK, was winner of the “2019 Discovery of the Year Award”.
Also notable in northwestern Ontario is the Georgia Lake pegmatite deposit owned by Rock Tech Lithium with an estimated resource of 13.3 Mt Li2O; two deposits owned by Imagine Lithium containing historical resources totalling 2.75Mt Li2O and the Seymour Lake lithium deposit having an estimated resource of 9.9 Mt and the Root Lake deposit estimated at 12.6Mt Li2O both owned by ASX listed-Green Technology Metals.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Sampling in 2021 returned grab and channel samples up to 412 ppm Lithium, 1,040 ppm Rubidium, 143 ppm Cesium, and 135 ppm Tantalum.
- Observed and mapped pegmatite dykes on the Property.
- Elevated lithium, beryl, cesium, tantalum, rubidium and niobium values in pegmatite dykes within the property suggesting a rare-element pegmatite type deposit model consistent with other pegmatite fields in northwestern Ontario.
- Mg/Li ratio’s suggesting that the parent granite is fertile and peraluminous and that pegmatites are lithium-bearing.
- Known lithium-bearing pegmatites (SJ Pegmatite) proximal to the southern claim group
- ASX-listed- Green Technology Metals’s expanding Root Lake and McCombe deposits associated with the Allison Lake Batholith structure.
- Proximity (20 km) to the Uchi-English River terrane boundary. Granite-pegmatite systems typically occur along subprovince boundaries.
PRIOR EXPLORATION
Initial reconnaissance mapping and sampling by Portofino was completed on the Property in July 2021. Encouraging reconnaissance grab and channel sample results returned values up to 398 ppm Lithium (“Li”), 90.5 ppm Cesium (“Cs”), 1040 ppm Rubidium (“Rb”) and 135 ppm Tantalum (“Ta”). This represents a two-fold increase in Li and Rb and a ten-fold increase in Ta over sampling results by the Ontario Geological Survey (“OGS”) in 2003 which reported up to 190 ppm Li; 90 ppm Cs; 587 ppm Rb and 12.9 ppm Ta.
In late September 2021, 35 channel samples (17 channel samples and 18 select channel samples) and 11 select grab samples were submitted to the lab for chemical and mineral analysis. The program returned values up to 412 ppm Li and 857 ppm Rb from select channel samples. Maximum values from both the June and September sampling programs of 143 ppm Ta correspond to the Ta values reported from the “SJ Pegmatite” located just east of the southern claim group. Values of Ta at the SJ Pegmatite were described as “economically interesting” by author Breaks et al. in the 2003 Ontario Geological Survey (“OGS”) report.
In September 2022, a property wide high-resolution helicopter-borne magnetometer (“Mag“) geophysical survey was completed by Prospectair Geosurveys. The survey comprised 406 line-kilometers of high-resolution Mag with GPS controlled 50-meter line separations.
The geological team re-mobilized to the Allison Lake Property in fall 2022. In addition to expanding on the Company’s initial exploration program where encouraging Lithium (“Li”) and Tantalum (“Ta”) values were discovered, the most recent sampling has also yielded elevated values for Niobium (“Nb”) and Rubidium (“Rb”). Additionally, the team discovered a number of undocumented pegmatites.
A total of 28 grab samples, 3 channel samples and 20 select channel samples were collected. Values up to 234 ppm Li were reported within metasediments adjacent to undocumented pegmatite dykes and up to 622 ppm Rb within a pegmatite dyke
NEXT STEPS
Field work follow-up is recommended as the next step. This would consist of geological mapping and geochemical sampling of outcroppings covering more of the claim area with details to pegmatite dyking, style of dyking and interaction with nearby lithologies.
June 2021 Channel Sampling Photos
Fall 2021 – Sampling program
Summer 2021 – Sampling program
Allison Lake North Maps
