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Volta Metals extends gallium zone at Ontario’s Springer project
Drilling at Springer found gallium up to 210 metres below the current open pit outline, and the company plans to consider adding gallium to a resource update later this year if recovery work supports it.
Volta Metals has reported drill results that extend gallium mineralization 210 metres beneath the current open pit outline at its Springer rare earth project in Ontario, widening the gallium footprint beyond what the existing resource captures, Mining.com reports.
In hole SL26-31, Volta said it returned 399 metres grading 51.8 grams gallium oxide per tonne starting from 3 metres downhole. In hole SL26-32, it reported 53.9 metres grading 1.22% total rare earth oxides and 47 grams gallium oxide, from 372.1 metres to the end of the hole at 426 metres.
The company added that gallium appears broadly distributed through the host rocks rather than being confined to higher-grade rare earth zones. Volta CEO Kerem Usenmez said the distribution across the deposit supports the idea that the gallium footprint could extend beyond the current rare earth resource.
Volta also noted that gallium was included across all assayed lengths in three holes and that 90% of 863 samples returned more than 30 grams gallium oxide per tonne. While the company has not yet established an economic mining approach for gallium, it said recovery work could enable gallium to be added to a resource update later this year, potentially creating a second source of value as Western governments seek alternatives to China-dominated gallium supply.