Chariot Corporation has vowed to break out from a freezing Wyoming winter and polish off its diamond drilling campaign at Black Mountain, following its scheduled halt for the Christmas holiday season.
Management says that since beginning its phase-one program in mid-November, it has drilled six diamond-core holes for a total of 652m of triple-tube HQ core and results are expected to be returned from American Assay Labs in Reno this month.
The entire first-phase Black Mountain program is slated to require between 2000m and 3000m of coring. It includes between seven and 10 oriented triple-tube HQ holes put in from seven drill pads to continue testing lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT)-type pegmatite targets.
The targets were identified from the company’s earlier surface geochemical sampling and geological mapping campaigns, while further information is expected this month from the already completed drill holes.
Management says it experienced slower going than normal due to particularly harsh winter conditions that dipped down to -15oC and with winds up to 60km/h – the type of weather that has been widely reported across much of the northern hemisphere. The miserable conditions presented significant challenges such as the freezing of the project’s water source for drilling operations and of water and diesel lines, water truck breakdowns and blocked access roads because of fresh snowfall and snow drifts. It necessitated the normal “winterising” of the rig before being shut down over the Christmas break.
The upside for Chariot is that it will continue with the rig in its winterised state on kicking off this year’s winter drilling program. It will not only save time but will also allow the company to see if the unusually more moderate conditions that are currently prevailing will continue, as have been forecast.
Management says it expects to drill through to March 1, weather permitting, when there will be a scheduled shut-down until drilling resumes in June.
Chariot has established a core handling and storage facility in Jeffrey City in Wyoming where drill core is photographed, logged and sawn for analytical samples, based on geological examination and selection of sample intervals.
It will be now be interesting to see what will emerge from below the ice.
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By Doug Bright
