Crevier
The Crevier deposit was discovered in 1974 by SOQUEM. NioBay Metals acquired it in 2008 with the goal to extract both niobium and tantalum. Thanks to the Crevier project, NioBay Metals would become the only producer of niobium oxide and tantalum in North America.
Characteristics
The Crevier project is owned at 72.5% by NioBay Metals and 27.5% by Niobec Inc.
It’s located in Crevier Township 50 kilometers north of Girardville, in the Lac Saint-Jean region, province of Quebec, Canada. The project is part of Nitassinan, the traditional territory of the Pekuakamiulnatsh First Nation, in the territory of the townships of Lagorce and Crevier which are in the MRC of Maria-Chapdelaine.
The property covers 83 contiguous concessions covering a total of 4,645 hectares. The area of the 83 adjacent mining titles total 4,645 hectares.
Estimated advantages of the project (Preliminary Economic Study, 2020)
Geology and Mineralization
The property comprises a nepheline syenite dyke exhibiting pegmatitic texture that stretches more than three kilometers. It hosts a niobium and tantalum mineralization estimated at 25.4 million metric tons of mineralization.
Resource and content: 25,4 Mt @ 0.20% Nb2O5et 234 ppm Ta2O5 (Measured and indicated – SGS July 2010)
| Updated Mineral Resource (43-101) – June 2010 | |||
| Category | Million Tonnes | Nb2O5 % | Ta2O5 (ppm) |
| Measured | 12,465 | 0,199 | 234 |
| Indicated | 12,904 | 0,194 | 234 |
| Total Measured +Indicated | 25,369 | 0,196 | 234 |
| Inferred | 15,423 | 0,17 | 252 |
| Mineral resource within the geological deposit, 0.1% Nb2O5 cutoff grade | |||
| Niobium: High grades cut to 0.5% Nb2O5 | |||
| Tantalum: High grades cut to 550 ppm Ta2O5 | |||
Map of the drilling work performed in 2022
Community relations
First Nations
In February 2023, NioBay Metals Inc. and Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan signed a cooperation agreement for the advanced exploration and development of the Crevier Project. The cooperation agreement signed aims to provide a framework for future work that will assist in the development of the Crevier Project.
Neighboring citizens
We maintained close contact with the municipality on our activities and results. A letter was sent to the citizens of the neighboring municipality of Girardville. During the evolution of the project, communications, meetings will be organized.
We carried out advanced prospecting and took surface rock samples in June-July 2022 on our claims located south of Lac à la Truite. A drilling campaign, initially planned for 13 holes totaling 3250 m of drilling, resulted in a campaign of 10 holes for 4,000 m of drilling and was carried out from the beginning of September to the beginning of November. There is currently no field work on the site. The type of mineralization sought in this sector is niobium and tantalum, two metals on the list of strategic metals for Canada.
There are no properties on the site of current and future works. According to the results of the fall 2022 campaign, other drilling will be necessary (of the same type and of the same magnitude) in order to better understand the geology of this sector.