Great Lakes Signs Definitive Agreement with Rock Tech Lithium to Acquire the Lochaber Graphite Deposit in Quebec
Toronto, Mar 5, 2014 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Shield Gold Inc., (
CVE:SHG) operating as Great Lakes Graphite ("Shield" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement with Rock Tech Lithium Inc. ("Rock Tech") (CVE:RCK) to acquire the Lochaber graphite deposit (the "Lochaber Graphite Property"), located in the prolific Buckingham Graphite region in Outaouais/Gatineau, Québec.
The Lochaber Graphite Property is comprised of 151 mineral claims, in four contiguous blocks, covering 9,062 hectares in Buckingham and Lochaber Townships. Two of the Rock Tech claim blocks are contiguous with the Company's existing claims in the area, namely those in the Diamond and the Bell claim blocks.
The purchase agreement between the companies provides for the Company to pay Rock Tech a total of $300,000 in cash and issue a total of 15 million common shares of the Company to Rock Tech or to whom it may direct. The acquisition is subject to and conditional upon TSXV and other regulatory approvals and satisfactory due diligence, including satisfaction with the results of metallurgical testing on samples that will be supplied by Rock Tech. On completion of the acquisition Rock Tech will have the right to appoint one nominee to the Board of Directors of the Company.
The Lochaber Graphite Property, considered highly prospective for large flake, crystalline graphite, has an historic record of exploration and production. Numerous flake graphite occurrences on the property are some of the oldest graphite showings in Canada, having been discovered in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There are four historical graphite occurrences (the "MacLaren", "Kelly North", "Kelly South" and "Burke" showings) and two past producing graphite mines (the "Mayo" and "Plumbago" mines) located in an area of 16 km2 on the "main" claim block.
Rock Tech completed eight trenches and carried out channel sampling, ground geophysical surveys and over 7,000 m of drilling in late 2012 in the Plumbago mine area. The exploration work delineated two areas of graphite mineralization: Conductor "A" is 700 m long, and 27 m to 100 m wide; and Conductor "C" is 600 m long and 29 m to 82 m wide. Both conductors were drill-tested down to at least 150 m below surface. A majority of the drill holes intersected graphite mineralization. Previous exploration work included over 4,000 m of diamond drilling by previous operators during the 1980s.
Rock Tech also shipped samples for metallurgical testing to determine the quality of graphite, flake size, and recoverability. This test-work is in progress at Process Research Ortech Inc. in Mississauga, ON. Preliminary metallurgical results carried out by Global Mineral Research Inc. in Burnaby, BC indicated the following flake size distribution:
- 48.1% of the graphite concentrate being greater than 80 (Tyler) mesh (180 micron) in size;
- 30.5% of the graphite concentrate being between 80 and 200 mesh (180 micron and 75 micron) in size; and
- 21.4% of the graphite concentrate passing 200 mesh (75 micron).
The Company plans to complete a National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource estimate based on the available exploration data. Based on the results of completed resource estimates, the Company will plan preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") and environmental baseline studies on the property. Most of the surface rights in the area are held by private owners, therefore community consultation and access rights are an important and ongoing aspect of the project.
The technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. John Siriunas, P.Eng., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.
About Great Lakes Graphite: Shield Gold Inc., operating as Great Lakes Graphite, is an industrial minerals company with the mandate to bring graphite projects to production through the acquisition and development of high quality graphite flake properties. Graphite has moved to the forefront of the Industrial Mineral World as a Critical Mineral required for industrial use and as a major component in the development of new technologies. With the advancement of battery storage, mobile battery systems and alternative energy infrastructure, it is estimated that 20 new graphite flake mines will be required to keep up with demand by the year 2020.
As there are currently no graphite mines producing in North America, Great Lakes Graphite has the ability to become one of the first producers to supply a growing regional customer base that requires high quality flake graphite, where pricing and demand continue to rise.
The Company, through strategic acquisitions and capable management intends to become a leader in the industrial minerals marketplace. The Company's graphite properties are located in the Buckingham and Lochaber Townships of southwestern Québec. The Company has also entered into option and joint venture agreements with Eloro Resources Inc. on the Summit-Gaber property located in the La Grande Greenstone Belt in the James Bay region of Québec. Further information regarding Great Lakes can be found on the Company's website at: www.GreatLakesGraphite.com.
Shield trades with symbol SHG on the TSX Venture Exchange and currently has 42,504,819 shares outstanding (61,638,982 fully diluted).
To view the release, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/76711-CVE-SHD-20140304.pdf
Contact
Paul A. Gorman, CEO
Tel.: +1-416-768-6101
Email: pgorman@GreatLakesGraphite.com
Paul R. Ankcorn, CFO
Tel: +1-416-414-9171
E-mail: pankcorn@bellnet.ca
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