Graphano Drilling Results Show Great Potential for Zone 3 at LAB Graphite Project
Vancouver, February 8, 2023 - Graphano Energy Ltd. (TSXV: GEL) (FSE: 97G0) (the "Company") is pleased to announce results of the exploration drilling of Zone 3 on its 100% owned Lac Aux Bouleaux Graphite (LAB) Property in Quebec.
Luisa Moreno, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated: "The recent drill program has been very successful, with significant graphite mineralization being intersected in almost all the holes completed on Zone 3. Our drilling program to date suggests that the graphite mineralization at Lac Aux Bouleaux is structurally folded which can enhance the economic potential of the various zones of mineralization. We are encouraged to continue with the exploration drilling program for all the remaining zones followed by a comprehensive resource drilling program later this year. We are confident that we will define a compliant mineral resource to supply graphite to the western battery supply chain in the near term; thus, continuing to make this region of Quebec the only source of graphite in North America."
A total of 25 drill holes were completed for a total of 1,779 metres. Given that surface mineralization was previously exposed during Graphano's trenching program intermittently along the length of Zone 3, most holes were shallow (less than 60 m) to test the immediate depth and thickness of the graphite mineralization. Twenty-three holes were drilled to evaluate Zone 3 over a length of approximately 500 metres. One hole was drilled in Zone 8 and another one in Zone 4. Highlights of the drilling results are provided below.
Highlights (see Figure 1 and Table 1 for details):
Zone 3 Target
Very successful drill program with 15 of the 23 drill holes (65%) intersecting significant graphite mineralization over the 500 metre length of Zone 3 tested by this first phase of exploration drilling. The mineralization outlined remains open for continued expansion. Results include:
Drill Hole LB22-33 intersected 6.26% graphitic carbon (Cg) over 13.7 meters (m) starting at 14.0 (m) drilled depth, including 11.95% Cg over 4.7 m at 14 m;
- Drill Hole LB22-45 intersected 9.09% Cg over 8.0 m at 68 m;
- Drill Hole LB22-52 intersected 7.17% Cg over 9.0 m at 36 m;
- Drill Hole LB22-39 intersected 4.72% Cg over 11.6 m at 36.4 m , including 6.56% Cg over 6.6 m at 36.4 m;
- Drill Hole LB22-34 intersected 5.82% Cg over 9.0 m at 38.0 m, including 6.25% Cg over 3.50 m at 38 and 7.28% Cg over 4 m at 43 m;
- Drill Hole LB22-32 intersected 6.28% Cg over 8.0 m at 18.5 m;
- Drill Hole LB22-48 intersected 9.53% Cg over 5.0 m at 19.5 m
Zone 8 Target
Only a single drill hole completed to date, LB22-54, which intersected 4.12% Cg over 6.0 m at 26 m drilled depth which indicates significant potential for this virtually unexplored target. Based on airborne EM results the Zone 8 target has an approximate 1000 metre length requiring further exploration.
(Note: All intersections reported are based on drilled width and have not been converted to the true width).
One method of evaluating and visually demonstrating the exploration significance of a drill program and thus the indicated economic potential is to calculate a drill hole's mineralized zone thickness multiplied by the zone's grade. The last column of the table on Figure 1 shows the thickness times metres values for LAB Zone 3 drill holes. The values greater than 25 (yellow highlight) are significant and those above 50 (red highlight) are very significant.
Figure 1 - Zone 3 Drill Holes Map
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The exploration drilling to date seems to suggest that the relatively high-grade LAB graphite horizons are locally folded and structurally thickened, which can enhance the potential for economic mineralization. This is similar to the Lac des Iles (LDI) deposit (Figure 2) that has been mined for over 30 years and is located immediately adjacent to Graphano's LAB property.
Figure 2 - Lac des Iles Graphite Mineralization Model
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Source: Technical Report on the Lac-des-Îles Quarry, Québec, Report for NI 43-101, February 2022, SRL Consulting (Canada). Note: graphite mineralization in the green area.
Luisa Moreno, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, added: "The combination of the excellent accessibility of the property and the near surface mineralized zones gives Graphano great encouragement for the development of LAB at a much faster pace than usual."
Zone 3 on the Property is one of the eight target areas identified from the 2015 airborne high-resolution magnetic (MAG) and time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) survey completed on the LAB property. These targets were further explored through ground geophysical surveying and, prior to drilling, additional trenching and channeling sampling was performed to identify the best areas for drilling and orientation.
The majority of drill holes completed on the Zone 3 target intersected near surface mineralized horizons ranging from 1.0 metres to 14 metres in thickness (core length) over a 500 m length, thus far by drilling. The graphite mineralization observed during the drilling is hosted within a sequence of marble, paragneiss and quartzites.
Table 1: Drill Hole Results
| LAB Graphite Project | ||||||||
| 2022 Exploration Drilling | ||||||||
| LAB Zone 3 | ||||||||
| Hole No. | Azimuth | Dip | Easting | Northing | From (m) | To (m) | Thickness (m) A1 | % Cg |
| LB22-31 | 135 | -45 | 457744 | 5134052 | 14.00 | 20.00 | 6.00 | 4.15 |
| including | 14.00 | 18.00 | 4.00 | 6.23 | ||||
| LB22-32 | 135 | -45 | 457730 | 5134067 | 18.50 | 26.50 | 8.00 | 6.28 |
| including | 18.50 | 24.00 | 5.50 | 8.40 | ||||
| 54.50 | 55.50 | 1.00 | 9.15 | |||||
| LB22-33 | 135 | -45 | 457765 | 5134069 | 14.00 | 27.70 | 13.70 | 6.26 |
| including | 14.00 | 18.70 | 4.70 | 11.95 | ||||
| and | 25.50 | 27.70 | 2.20 | 11.45 | ||||
| 47.50 | 57.00 | 9.50 | 2.67 | |||||
| including | 47.50 | 49.00 | 1.50 | 9.63 | ||||
| LB22-34 | 135 | -45 | 457746 | 5134086 | 38.00 | 47.00 | 9.00 | 5.82 |
| including | 38.00 | 41.50 | 3.50 | 6.28 | ||||
| and | 43.00 | 47.00 | 4.00 | 7.38 | ||||
| 63.00 | 63.70 | 0.70 | 9.53 | |||||
| LB22-35 | 135 | -45 | 457715 | 5134020 | 22.00 | 29.00 | 7.00 | 4.19 |
| including | 22.00 | 26.00 | 4.00 | 6.24 | ||||
| LB22-36 | 135 | -45 | 457704 | 5134031 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.65 |
| 29.50 | 38.00 | 8.50 | 2.90 | |||||
| including | 34.00 | 38.00 | 4.00 | 3.49 | ||||
| LB22-37 | 315 | -45 | 457704 | 5134029 | 1.00 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 3.68 |
| 21.00 | 27.00 | 6.00 | 6.65 | |||||
| including | 23.00 | 26.00 | 3.00 | 10.95 | ||||
| LB22-38 | 200 | -45 | 457707 | 5134026 | 20.00 | 26.00 | 6.00 | 3.17 |
| LB22-39 | 315 | -45 | 457762 | 5134002 | 2.00 | 4.00 | 2.00 | 3.95 |
| 13.00 | 15.00 | 2.00 | 8.86 | |||||
| 36.40 | 48.00 | 11.60 | 4.72 | |||||
| including | 36.40 | 43.00 | 6.60 | 6.56 | ||||
| LB22-40 | 315 | -45 | 457772 | 5134024 | No Significant Mineralization | |||
| LB22-41 | 315 | -70 | 457767 | 5133999 | No Significant Mineralization | |||
| LB22-43 | 135 | -45 | 457811 | 5134198 | No Significant Mineralization | |||
| LB22-44 | 135 | -45 | 457834 | 5134226 | 15.00 | 29.00 | 14.00 | 2.06 |
| including | 17.00 | 19.00 | 2.00 | 3.14 | ||||
| and | 23.00 | 25.00 | 2.00 | 5.16 | ||||
| LB22-45 | 135 | -45 | 457787 | 5134205 | 68.00 | 76.00 | 8.00 | 9.09 |
| including | 68.00 | 73.50 | 5.50 | 12.59 | ||||
| 82.00 | 85.00 | 3.00 | 2.10 | |||||
| LB22-46 | 135 | -50 | 457809 | 5134244 | 64.50 | 68.00 | 3.50 | 8.94 |
| LB22-47 | 315 | -45 | 457854 | 5134391 | No Significant Mineralization | |||
| LB22-48 | 315 | -45 | 457904 | 5134350 | 19.50 | 24.50 | 5.00 | 9.53 |
| LB22-49 | 315 | -45 | 457863 | 5134313 | 20.00 | 23.00 | 3.00 | 6.03 |
| LB22-50 | 315 | -45 | 457939 | 5134302 | 47.00 | 55.00 | 8.00 | 3.95 |
| including | 47.50 | 53.00 | 5.50 | 4.78 | ||||
| LB22-51 | 350 | -45 | 457935 | 5134338 | 26.00 | 32.50 | 6.50 | 4.23 |
| including | 30.00 | 32.50 | 2.50 | 9.10 | ||||
| LB22-52 | 315 | -45 | 457895 | 5134277 | 36.00 | 45.00 | 9.00 | 7.17 |
| LB22-53 | 345 | -85 | 457941 | 5134307 | 19.00 | 38.00 | 19.00 | 1.44 |
| including | 37.00 | 38.00 | 1.00 | 14.10 | ||||
| LB22-55 | 315 | -45 | 457828 | 5134289 | 21.00 | 23.00 | 2.00 | 3.27 |
| LAB Zone 4 | ||||||||
| LB22-42 | 315 | -45 | 457461 | 5133968 | 61.00 | 63.00 | 2.00 | 4.30 |
| 88.50 | 89.00 | 0.50 | 7.18 | |||||
| LAB Zone 8 | ||||||||
| LB22-54 | 315 | -55 | 457718 | 5134421 | 26.00 | 32.00 | 6.00 | 4.12 |
| including | 27.00 | 30.00 | 3.00 | 7.33 | ||||
| Notes: | A1 Thicknesses are core length. True width will be defined with additional drilling | |||||||
| UTM Nad 83, Zone 18 | ||||||||
All drill core samples were bagged and tagged using best practices and were delivered to Activation Laboratories ("ACTLABS"), Ancaster, Ontario, for sample preparation and analyses using laboratories' Code 4F-C Graphitic, analyzing C-Graphite (infrared) where the sample is subjected to a multistage furnace treatment to remove all forms of carbon with the exception of graphitic carbon; and C-Total (infrared). ACTLABS is an independent commercial, accredited ISO Certified Laboratory. The core samples also include field duplicates and blanks for quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC) purposes.
Qualified Person
The technical content disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Mr. Martin Ethier, Géo (#1520), who is a Member of the Order of Geologists of Québec and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. ("NI 43-101"), and Roger Dahn, B.Sc., P.Geo, a director of the Company, also a "Qualified Person".
About Graphano Energy
Graphano Energy Ltd. is an exploration and development company that is focused on evaluating, acquiring and developing energy metals resources from exploration to production.
Graphite is one of the most in-demand technology minerals that is required for a green and sustainable world. The Company's Lac Aux Bouleaux property, situated adjacent to Canada's only producing graphite mine, in Quebec, Canada, has historically been an active area for natural graphite. With the demand for graphite growing in some of the most prominent and cutting-edge industries, such as lithium batteries in electric cars and other energy storage technologies, the Company is developing its project to meet the demands of the future.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Luisa Moreno
Chief Executive Officer and Director
E: info@graphano.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, relating to future operations - exploration, drilling and other activities of Graphano - are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, the Company's exploration plans, results therefrom, and the impact thereof. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Graphano, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete proposed exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, and changes in general economic, market and business conditions. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Graphano does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbour.
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