At the Company’s advanced-stage Georgia Lake project, the first phase of its planned drill program has commenced. Trow Engineering (“Trow”) is currently conducting a baseline environmental study and, on December 7, 2010, Cobra Drilling Limited (“Cobra”) started on the first 4,000 metres of NQ-sized diamond core drilling. Three drill holes have been completed at the Aumacho Claim Block and the core samples have been submitted to SGS Laboratories (“SGS”) in Toronto for chemical assaying. The objective of the first phase of the drill program is to advance the historic resource of approximately 9.8 million tons with an average grade of 1.18% lithium oxide to a National Instrument (NI) 43-101 compliant resource. Based on consultation with Caracle Creek International Consulting (“CCIC”), the Company is targeting completion by June 2011.
Permits for road construction to the Nama Creek Claim Block have been granted and road work will continue until December 23, 2010, and recommence on January 3, 2011. Upon completion of the approximately two kilometre road, Cobra will mobilize drill rigs onto the Nama Creek Claim Block and commence drilling.
Subject to weather conditions and granting of requisite permits, the Company has set the following timeline for the exploration program at its Georgia Lake lithium and rare metals project for the first six months of 2011:
-A three dimensional model of the Georgia Lake deposit is to be completed by CCIC by the third week of January 2011. The model is based on historic drill data and new chemical assay results will be added into the model as they are received from SGS.
-Results of the environmental baseline study will be available by mid-February 2011, and further environmental field work will be conducted in the spring of 2011, with results to follow 2 months thereafter.
-Completion of 4,000 metres of diamond core drilling to be completed by the end of February 2011. Sample assay results will be available starting near the end of January 2011, with the final set of sample assay results being completed by the end of April 2011.
-Bulk sampling for metallurgical testing to be collected by the third week of January 2011, with the scoping study to produce battery quality lithium carbonate to be completed by the end of May 2011 by SGS.
-NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate to be available by June 2011.
Subsequent to the completion of the first phase of the exploration program will be the execution of approximately 7,000 metres of diamond drilling with the objective of expanding the resource at the Georgia Lake lithium and rare metals project. The Company is targeting the start of a pre-feasibility study by December 2011.
In addition to these operational activities, the Company has commenced dialogue with the First Nations groups in the Thunder Bay-Beardmore region. The Georgia Lake properties are located on Crown land; however, this land is classified as Traditional Lands as First Nations community members use the area for hunting, fishing, fur trapping and other activities paramount to their survival and way of life. In recognition and respect of the First Nations groups, Rock Tech management and directors have engaged the Chiefs and/or Councils to determine means of working in cooperation with them. The Company’s objective is to balance the economic and social needs and interests of the local community members while developing the project to maximize shareholder value.
Recently, the Company announced the acquisition of 630 claims covering 31,049 hectares in the Val d’Or Region of Quebec, and 376 claims covering 19,826 hectares in the Eastmain Region (James Bay, Quebec). Combined with the 123 claims covering 6,433 hectares the Company already holds in the Kapiwak Pegmatite Zone in the Eastmain Region, it brings the Company’s lithium claims total in Quebec to 1,129, covering a total area of 57,308 hectares.
The James Bay Region is a new lithium discovery region, with Lithium One Inc. (TSX-V: LI), First Gold Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: EFG), Nemaska Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: NMX), and Dios Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: DOS) / Sirios Resources Inc. (TSX-V: SOI) having made discoveries. The Val d’Or area is a historic mining region for gold and lithium, where Canada Lithium Inc. (TSX-V: CLQ) will be reactivating a past producing lithium mine into production within the next 2 years.
In 2011, the Company’s plans for its Quebec projects include geophysical work, geological mapping, ground sampling and trenching. From a corporate strategic perspective, Rock Tech will be seeking partnerships to expedite the development of its Quebec lithium projects, but will only do so under the appropriate terms and conditions.
Company President and CEO, Eunho Lee, commented, “Rock Tech Lithium Inc. has implemented a focused strategy to develop its Georgia Lake lithium and rare metals project with specific targets and milestones expected to be achieved as outlined by our Operations team in this news release. As well, the expression of interest from potential strategic partners to develop all of our assets, including our Quebec properties, is providing us with the impetus to aggressively pursue these opportunities. The Company is well financed and the execution of our operational plans is led by highly qualified and skilled personnel and consultants, so we are pleased about the prospects of building Rock Tech into a global leader in the lithium and rare metals exploration space. 2010 was a challenging year, and we are excited about the challenges that lay ahead of us in 2011.”
Technical information of this news release has been reviewed by Afzaal Pirzada, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in NI43-101.
