Benz Mining drills high-grade lithium at Ruby Hill West

Benz Mining (TSXV: BZ; ASX: BNZ) has received assays for the six holes drilled in April 2022 as part of its initial lithium exploration at the Ruby Hill West discovery in Quebec. The best results came from RHW22-006, which intersected 26.4 metres at 1.01% lithium oxide (Li₂O) and 3.7 metres at 2.61% Li₂O, with tantalum, rubidium and cesium association. Holes RHW22-001, 002, 003 and 005 also showed lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) signatures, confirming the presence of multiple dike systems in the area.

“These results prove that the Ruby Hill West pegmatite we drilled this year carries both grade and thickness. We are currently in the field at Ruby Hill West and Windy Mountain identifying more pegmatite outcrops and stripping the outcrops near last winter’s drilling,” Xavier Braud, CEO of Benz Mining, said.

The Ruby Hill West lithium project represents a surface occurrence of spodumene-bearing LCT pegmatite within the Ruby Hill West project, located 50 km due west of the Eastmain exploration camp. The occurrence was first sampled in 2016 by Eastmain Resources (now part of Fury Gold Mines [TSX: FURY]) and then by Quebec government geologists in 2018. Only limited sampling was conducted by both groups.

In the summer of 2021, a team of consultants working for Benz sampled the outcrop without sufficiently attempting to scrape the moss and other vegetation covering the underlying rocks. The samples collected returned best assay values of 2.59% Li₂O, plus tantalum, rubidium and cesium. Then in March 2022, Benz conducted a drill program at the Ruby Hill West lithium pegmatite prospect and reported a 31.2-metre interval of visible pegmatite with zones of visible spodumene.

“Every campaign we have conducted has been successful and returned high-grade gold and now high-grade lithium mineralization. We will keep exploring and making discoveries in the Upper Eastmain greenstone belt, a new frontier area that Benz is bringing to the world’s attention,” Braud added.

Benz is currently exploring the Upper Eastmain greenstone belt in Quebec, which is prospective for gold, lithium, nickel, copper and other high-value minerals. Its flagship project is the Eastmain gold property, which currently hosts 236,500 oz. in 899,000 indicated tonnes grading 8.2 grams gold per tonne and 139,300 oz. in 579,000 inferred tonnes at 7.5 grams gold.