Des Herbiers
Location, Access, Description
The Des Herbiers Property is composed of 66 non-contiguous claim cells comprising 3624.88 hectares in the Cote-Nord administrative region of Quebec Province. It is located about 50 km east of Havre-Saint-Pierre (Qc), and 5 km north of Baie-Johan-Beetz (Qc).
The property was sold to REE generate Pty Ltd. in January 2022 for a 3% Gross Metal Royalty (GMR) .The claims are currently held by Infini Resources Quebec Ltd as part of their Des Herbiers project. Globex still retains a 3% GMR on these specific 66 claims.
Provincial road 138 runs about 2.8 km south of the Des Herbiers property. Access to the property is possible using all-terrain vehicles (VTT) via a network of forestry trails. Access is also possible by helicopter or seaplane ; a hydrobase is located in Baie-Johan-Beetz and a regional airport is located in Havre-Saint-Pierre. A high-voltage power line runs at the southern edge of the property.
The Des Herbiers project is focused on uranium exploration. It has a JORC 2012 Inferred Mineral Resource of 162 Mt @ 123ppm U3O8.
Geology and Mineralization
The Des Herbiers property belongs to the southern Allochtone unit of the Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield. The Allochtone is composed of rocks from the Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic era (1.6 to 0.985 Ga). Regional metamorphism is high grade, ranging from the upper amphibolite facies to the granulite facies (Moukhsil et al., 2013). Archean rocks underwent deformation during the Kenorean (D1) and Grenvillian (D2) orogenies. The Grenvillian orogeny generated isoclinal folds and NE-trending mylonitic deformation corridors. The Manicouagan impact also created a network of faults and a radial structure around the impact site (Moukhsil et al., 2013).
The local geology consists of granites, quartzites, gabbros, gneisses and metamorphosed sediments. Granitic rocks in the region are true granite, varying in colour from white to pink and granularity varying from very fine to medium-grained granite to extremely coarse-grained, very heterogeneous pegmatitic granite and pegmatite. The rocks underlying the immediate area of the property are comprised of biotite rich granitic rocks (La Galissonnière felsic Suite), quartzites and quartzo-feldspathic gneisses that are derived from strongly metamorphosed sandstones and arkoses (Wackeham Group), amphibole rich (ouralite) gabbros and gneisses (Robe Noire mafic Suite). Regional structures trend north to northwest.
The Des Herbiers Property area is underlain by geological units susceptible to contain significant uranium, REE, Thorium, Cesium and Niobium mineralisation of economic interest. The mineralization occurs in veins and disseminations linked to pegmatites, granitic gneisses and in meta-sedimentary rocks. As well as porphyritic granitoids carrying copper-gold and copper-molybdenum mineralization. Best intersections in historical work in the area of the Des Herbiers property are presented in the table below :
History
The region has been explored since the early 20th century. Feldspar pegmatites have been known in the Johan Beetz Bay area for many years and were mined in 1923-24. The Quebec Government mapped the area in 1957 (RG074) and 1973 (DP128). The discovery of uraninite and pitchblende in pegmatites of the Turgeon Lake Intrusive Complex (now labelled Suite felsique de La Galissonnière) in 1967 precipitated a major staking rush by a large number of junior companies.
The region has also been prospected for copper, then for silica, beryl, micas (Spar Mica mine in the 1950s) and fluorite, as well as for uranium in the 1960s and 1970s. SOQUEM explored the area’s potential for rare earth elements (REE), particularly a pegmatite dyke described as containing U, Th, Ce, and Y in 1988. Feldspar and quartz were mined along the coast.
The majority of historical work was centred around the Double S Zone, Middle Zone and TJ Zone. Limited diamond drilling was also conducted at Chan, Lac Tanguay, Lac Petit, Grandroy and Northern Canada Zones.
Uracan Resources Ltd. conducted grab sampling, channel sampling along with extensive drilling in the area between 2007 and 2009. Uracan reported a uranium mineral resource for TJ Zone, Middle Zone and Double S prospects during the 2008-2011 period using the Canadian Standards NI 43-101 (Uracan Resources Ltd., NI43-101 Technical Reports filed on the Canadian Securities Administrators SEDAR filing system on 21 August 2008, 9 April 2009, 11 June 2009, 24 June 2010 and 15 August 2011) :
Summary of Uracan JORC Mineral Resource Estimates between 2008 and 2011
Recent developments :
In 2022, Brunswick Exploration conducted an exploration campaign north of the property with the objectives of determining the attitude and potential volume of the pegmatite bodies and verifying the presence of lithium (GM73226). No lithium enrichment vector could be detected.
In 2023, the area was flown with a high-resolution Airborne magnetic and spectrometry survey conducted by Quebec MRNF (DP2023-02).
The same year, Infini Resources undertook re-interpretation of both airborne magnetic and radiometric data of 2023, and of historical diamond drilling on the Des Herbiers property (GM74064). The re-processing and re-interpretation of the airborne magnetic and radiometric data provided a higher resolution dataset that mapped the complex geology and structure in detail. The reinterpretation using geophysical data combined with the integration of structural controls, surface geological data, diamond drilling and surface geochemical data outlined 14 new target areas.
Resources and Potential
Historical exploration and drilling (> 50,000 metres in more than 400 drill holes) have revealed an abundance of low grade, near surface, bulk tonnage uranium. The Des Herbiers property holds potential to further develop the known mineralized zones, as well as to discover new mineralization. The field and geophysical observations suggest that the large Suite felsique de La Galissonnière remains the priority target.
The area is also underlain by geological units like porphyritic granitoids, susceptible to host copper-gold and copper-molybdenum mineralization.
Infini Resources is currently working on completing a detailed evaluation of historical exploration work undertaken on the Des Herbiers Project with a view to expanding the current resource.