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Technology Minerals Plc is a London-based mineral exploration company focused on the exploration of mineral resource projects in Ireland (Li project), Spain (Cu-Co-Ni project), Cameroon (Ni-Co project), and two in the USA (Cu-Co and Co projects, respectively).
Emperium Property, Idaho
This property consists of 694 claims, covering a total area of 55km², and is currently held by Emperium 1 Holdings Corp - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Technology Minerals. The claims are in north central Idaho (USA), near the town of Salmon, and fall in an area known as the Idaho Cobalt Belt (ICB), due to the presence of historic copper (Cu), cobalt (Co) and gold (Au) mines. The major historic mine in the area is the Blackbird mine, which was mined for 22-years (1938 to 1960) for a total tonnage of 1.74 Mt, at an average grade of 1.65% Cu, 0.63% Co and 0.8 g/t gold (Au). The Ram zone, 1km to the north of the former Blackbird mine site, has a current resource (measured and indicated) of 5.77 Mt @0.69% Cu, 0.44% Co and 0.53 g/t Au (Jervois Mining Limited, Feasibility Study, 2020).
The Emperium property represents the largest ground holding in the ICB, and is underlain by Proterozoic age metasediments of the Apple Creek Formation which contains all significant copper-cobalt deposits and occurrences within the 55km long ICB. No mining has previously taken place on the Emperium property, although two occurrences (Dummy Creek prospect and the Fawn prospect) are present.
Despite the highly prospective nature of the rocks and the proximity to historic mines and occurrences in the ICB, the only recorded exploration on the property occurred close to the Blackbird mine in the mid-1970s. To date, limited exploration has been conducted on the property, in the form of lithogeochemical (rock) sampling, soil sampling, and satellite image interpretation. A total of 120 rock chip samples were collected on the property, with the majority of samples collected at the four know prospects. The Dummy Creek prospect exhibits strong anomalism in copper (up to 3.74% Cu) and arsenic (up to 1050 ppm As), but low in cobalt (up to 66 ppm Co). The Fawn prospect has similar copper and cobalt concentrations (up to 2.62% Cu and 46 ppm Co), and appreciable gold values (7.64 g/t Au). The Landvik prospect contains elevated copper (up to 17.15% Cu), cobalt (up to 1,525 ppm Co), and gold (11.20 g/tAu). Several new occurrences were identified that contained Cu- Co-Au mineralization up to 23.70% Cu, 9300 ppm Co, and 11.20 g/t Au.
A total of 475 shallow soil samples were collected on the property using a regional grid (500 x 250m), with an additional 995 subsequent samples collected on ten areas of anomalism, using an 80 x 100m infill grid. The highest-grade samples for copper and cobalt were recorded form the Dummy Creek and Dummy Creek North areas.
A remote sensing (satellite) study on the property identified similar alteration to that seen at the Blackbird mine. Some of the alteration anomalies corresponded to known prospects, whereas other areas are new targets that require follow-up ground truthing.
Mineralization in the ICB occurs as three distinct styles:
• Type 1: Co-Cu-As (±Au) present as stratabound sulphides - e.g., Blackbird.
• Type 2: Co-rich, As-poor stratabound sulphides - e.g., Iron Creek (2.37 Mt @ 0.32% Co and 0.61% Cu, First Cobalt, January 2020).
• Type 3: Co-bearing tourmaline breccias (<0.1% Co). All styles of mineralization are being investigated on the property.
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