Champion Electric Cuts Significant Widths of Lithium Pegmatite in Trenching at Quebec Lithium Project, James Bay Territory

Newsfile Corp.
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10.5 metres at 0.96% Li2O and 8.5 metres at 1.17% Li2O

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 10, 2024) - Champion Electric Metals Inc. (CSE: LTHM) (OTCQB: CHELF) (FSE: 1QB0) ("Champion Electric" or the "Company") is pleased to announce significant lithium in samples collected from its trenching program at the Western Prospect of the Quebec Lithium Project in the heart of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory (see Fig. 1). The two strongest intervals reported from the program to date are 10.5 metres averaging 0.96% Li2O and 8.5 metres that averaged 1.17% Li2O.

"The lithium grades we are finding in bedrock along the Western Prospect are significant and compare favourably to more advanced projects on adjacent properties," commented President and CEO Jonathan Buick. "Now that we are seeing potentially economic grades at surface, we look forward to testing for increased mineralized widths at depth with the current core drilling program. Given the scale of the glacial dispersal train of spodumene-bearing boulders, we expect to identify a lot more targets for more trenching and drilling."

The 2024 program trenching effort focused on less than half of the 1,700 metre-long boulder field identified early in the field season (see Fig. 2). The team excavated a total of 12 trenches, exposing spodumene-mineralized pegmatite dikes at three locations over a strike length of 340 metres (see Figs. 3-4). Systematic channel sampling yielded 143 samples of nominal one metre length each. The length-weighted average grade of all channel samples in pegmatite is 0.47% Li20, while the length-weighted average of the 45 samples grading more than 0.40% Li2O is 1.09% Li2O. The highest Li2O content for a one-metre channel sample is 2.39% Li2O from channel EIQCH24-24 in Trench 8.

To date, lithium analyses for 128 channel samples have been received and analyses remain pending for an additional 15 samples. Highlight intervals are presented in Table 1.

Highlights of the Exposed Spodumene-Bearing Pegmatite Dikes

The thickness of glacial sedimentary cover encountered in trenches ranges from one metre to more than five metres, the maximum reach of the excavator. Once exposed, the bedrock surface in the trenches tends to vary in depth, usually exposing only 10-20 metres at a time; and certain of the trenches failed to reach any bedrock. In most cases, groundwater flows into the trenches to cover the low lying areas.

Once a mineralized pegmatite dike was encountered, the team then used the excavator to pursue the exposure as far as practical along strike. The geological team completed systematic mapping and channel sampling of pegmatite dikes with the aid of a two-bladed diamond saw. Channel sampling effectively approximates a "horizontal drill hole", which can be used to constrain the extent of the spodumene mineralized pegmatite dikes by using the geological and sample data. Visual estimates of spodumene content in pegmatite dike trench exposures range 2-10% with significant variability recognized over short distances along strike. Spodumene crystals are pale green in color with a maximum observed length of approximately 80 cm. Pegmatite dikes typically exhibit fine-grained selvages of a few tens of centimetres width at their contacts with amphibolite host rock; these selvages are absent of spodumene and are interpreted as chill margins. Spodumene crystals can locally exhibit crude alignment that is suggestive of the flow direction of the igneous melt.

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