Global Battery Metals pivots to Utah and Ireland after dud Michigan drilling
Global Battery Metals (TSXV: GBML) says it will stop exploring for nickel, copper and platinum group metals at its Sawyer camp in northern Michigan and instead focus on lithium projects in Ireland and Utah.
The Vancouver-based company completed two 300-metre scout drill holes and a borehole/surface electromagnetic survey at the camp, located on the peninsula between the Great Lakes of Michigan and Superior.
“Our exploration activities at Sawyer camp have not generated enough encouragement to justify continued allocation of budget and effort,” Michael Murphy, Global Battery’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Global Battery’s NW Leinster project in southeast Ireland has so far found five prospects to explore across an area of 477 sq. km. It borders the Aclare deposit explored during 1960s and 1970s, the company says.
The Lithium King project 170 km west of Salt Lake City lies on sediments of the Pleistocene-era Lake Bonneville salt flats. Sampling shows the potential for lithium-enriched brines at depths of 200-500 metres, the company says.
In Michigan, Global Battery assessed nickel, copper and platinum group metals targets potentially related to the mid-continent rift in Michigan. The company had likened claims at Sawyer to Lundin Mining‘s (TSX: LUN) Eagle mine on the peninsula near Lake Superior.
It said the properties shared similar mafic to ultramafic intrusions in pre-Cambrian basement rocks below glacial and Paleozoic cover rocks.
“While the scout holes confirmed the targeted aeromagnetic anomaly was caused by an ultramafic intrusion, no significant sulphide mineralization was encountered in the drilling,” Global Battery said.
The electromagnetic survey detected no conductors related to nickel-copper sulphides over the two main magnetic anomalies, it added.
