La Motte Lake
Location, Access, Description
The La Motte Lake property consists of 1 single mining claim covering an area of 42.73 Ha in La Motte township, northwestern Quebec, approximately 25 km south of Amos (Qc) and 35 km northwest of Val-d’Or (Qc).
The claim belongs to Linear Minerals Corp. and is located 13 km east of the Authier Lithium Project of Sayona Quebec Inc. The Authier deposit hosts Proven and Probable Reserve of 11.2 Mt @ 0.96% Li2O, and Measured and Indicated Resource of 14.14 Mt @ 1.01% Li2O (Leblanc et al., 2023 – NI 43-101 Feasibility study for the Authier Lithium Project). Globex will retain a 0.5% Gross Metal Royalty (GMR) on any future production on this specific claim. Globex also hosts royalties comprised between 0.5% and 1.5% GMR on several other assets in the area.
The property is centred in a well- developed mining region with many resource industry support facilities and services. The towns of Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d’Or and Amos have populations of between 25,000 and 60,000 and are well known for their mining history. The project is readily accessible by national highway and a high-quality rural road network.
Geology and Mineralization
The La Motte Lake property is located within the Abitibi Subprovince of the Canadian Shield. The Abitibi Subprovince is an Archean greenstone belt which hosts some of the richest mineral deposits of the Superior Province; it is divided into two distinct parts (Chown et al., 1992): the South Volcanic Zone (SVZ) and the North Volcanic Zone (NVZ), separated by the Destor-Porcupine-Manneville fault.
The geological setting of the Property is further characterized by the presence of several major structures, including the Cadillac-Larder Lake Deformation Zone and the Porcupine-Destor Fault Zone, which are believed to have played a significant role in the formation and localization of mineral deposits in the region. The Preissac, La Motte, and Lacorne batholiths are the main geological features in this area. These batholiths, which comprise a syn to tardi-kinematic plutonic ensemble, were established along the Anticline of La Pause in mafic to ultramafic volcanic rocks and sediments. The regional metamorphic facies of this area are green schist, although metamorphic contacts are linked to hornblende corneas in the immediate vicinity of the plutonic components.
The La Motte Lake property is located on the contact zone between the volcanic rocks of the Malartic Group and the La Corne Batholith, and is characterized by a strong deformation and penetrative foliation with a WNW-ESE general trend. The La Corne Batholith is the major feature of the geology of the Property. It is composed predominantly of intrusive calc-alkaline metaluminous foliated rocks whose composition varies from diorite to granodiorite; the La Corne Batholith also includes a halo of pegmatites mineralized in Li, Be, Ta, and Mo. The boundaries of the La Corne Batholith are marked to the south by the Cadillac-Larder Lake Deformation Zone which is host to numerous gold deposits.
In the Preissac-La Corne region, there are many pegmatites and aplites that seem to have been formed within fractures, joints, and dykes. The prospective dykes are usually pegmatitic, and composed of albitic plagioclase and feldspar-k (25 to 40%), quartz (30 to 40%), spodumene (5 to 20%), muscovite (0 to 5%) and a series of accessory minerals including beryl, garnet, columbo-tantalite, lepidolite, molybdenite and bismuthinite. The width of the dykes and irregular masses varies from 5 cm to 40 meters with lateral extensions reaching over 500 meters.
It should also be noted that molybdenite mineralization is not confined to pegmatites but rather limited to so-called hydrothermal veins formed by quartz, K-feldspars, muscovite and molybdenite located inside but on the edge of muscovite-bearing monzogranite facies with ±garnet from Preissac, La Motte and Moly Hill plutons.
The La Motte Lake showing was discovered in 1955 by surface prospection. The mineralization consists in 15% to 30% spodumene (±beryl); it is hosted in pegmatite dykes cutting through diorite, monzonite, and metasedimentary rocks of the Caste Formation. Assays up to 1.65% Li2O over 1.52 meter and 1.34% Li2O over 1.37 meter have been reported in historical DDH (GM 03089 and GM 71348).
The reference deposit of the area is the Authier deposit which is located about 3 km west of the property and hosts two separate mineralised pegmatite systems, including:
- Authier Main – 1,100 metres long striking east-west, with an average thickness of 25 metres (ranging from 4 metres to 55 metres), dipping 40 to 50 degrees to the north. The deposit outcrops in the eastern sector and then extends up to 10 metres under cover in the western sector. The deposit remains open in all directions; and
- Authier North – 500 metres long striking east-west, with an average thickness of 7 metres (ranging from 6 metres to 8 metres), dipping at 15 degrees to the north. The Authier North pegmatite appears at shallow levels (15 to 25 metres vertical depth). The deposit remains open in all directions.
The lithium mineralisation at the Authier project is related to multiple pulses of spodumene bearing quartz-feldspar pegmatite. Higher lithium grades are related with high concentrations of mid-to-coarse spodumene crystals (up to 4 cm long) in a mid-to-coarse grained pegmatite facies :
JORC Mineral Resource
In 2023, Sayona Mining Ltd. (now Sayona Quebec Ltd.) released a positive NI 43-101 Feasibility Study for the Authier Lithium Project (Leblanc et al., 2023). Estimation of Mineral Resource and Reserve are presented in tables below :
History
Exploration for pegmatites in the Preissac-La Motte area began in the early 1900s; the presence of molybdenite was first reported in 1901 (RG 160). The primary focus was initially on molybdenum. In 1942, the discovery of spodumene pegmatite at the site that would become the Québec Lithium Mine sparked interest in lithium. Exploration for lithium increased with the development of the Québec Lithium Mine in the 1950s and declined with the mine’s closure in 1965, partly due to falling prices and a declining market for the metal (GM 65011). In 1957, the discovery of the nickel deposit at the Marbridge Mine, which was mined from 1962 to 1967, sparked a boom in nickel (RG 160). In the early 2000s, interest in lithium increased.
Little work has been done on the property. From November to December 1954, a drilling campaign consisting of seven (7) boreholes totaling 416 m was carried out in the La Motte township by Goyette Diamond Drilling (GM 03089). Holes No. 14, 15, and 16, totaling 178.6 m, were drilled on the current Lac La Motte property, at the level of the showing. The purpose of these drill holes was to verify the presence of spodumene in pegmatite dykes at depth. Anomalies up to 1.65% Li2O over 1.52 meter and 1.34% Li2O over 1.37 meter have been reported in historical DDH.
In 2007 and 2011, helicopter-borne magnetic and electromagnetic surveys were also conducted on a large area which covered the La Motte Lake property (GM 66216).
In 2009, Candorado granted options on the Lac La Motte South and East properties to Glenn Griesbach and Kamaleddin Salmasi (GM 65110). In 2010, Discovery Consultants conducted mapping and sampling for Candorado to assess the property’s lithium potential. At the Lac La Motte showing, a sample consisting of rock fragments approximately 1 meter long was collected and returned 0.14% Li, 1,970 ppm Rb, 141 ppm Be, 18 ppm Ta, and 72 ppm Cs (GM 65110).
Recent work and developments :
In 2019, Globex conducted a historical work compilation report on the Lac La Motte property (GM 71348).
In 2022 and 2023, Medaro Mining, Jourdan Resources and Consolidated Lithium Metals undertook soil sampling programs in the vicinity of the La Motte Lake property (GM 74485, GM 73186 and GM 73215). Beloborodov wrote that “the lithium Li grade in the Preissac-Lacorne area shows significant variation and can range from being undetectable by the laboratory to registering measurable levels, with average grade 36.39 ppm Li and maximum value of 243 ppm Li.” This represents the most recent work listed in public data for the property.
Resources and Potential
Limited historical work has been undertaken directly on the La Motte Lake property in the past; no recent high resolution magnetometry is available on the property, and only 4 shallow overburden holes have been implanted on the property for a total length of 940 meters.
The geological location of the property and close proximity to lithium and rare metal showings and deposits suggest a favorable potential for the discovery of mineralized pegmatite. Therefore spodumene pegmatites are still likely to be discovered on the La Motte Lake property.
Future exploration work should include high resolution airborne magnetic and gravimetry surveys, as well as scintillometer prospection and grab sampling in order to identify mineralized pegmatites below overburden.