TSX- and ASX-listed Champion Iron has reached a one-year joint venture (JV) agreement with CSE-listed Supreme Metals to access claims located on the Bloom Lake East property, adjacent to Champion’s flagship asset – the Bloom Lake iron-ore mine, in Quebec.
Supreme conducted magnetic survey work in 2018, identifying iron-ore prospects at Bloom East, which could be of strategic importance to Champion and its subsidiary Quebec Iron Ore (QIO), as it could be considered as a source of iron-ore feed for the Bloom Lake mine’s concentration plant.
The southern part of Bloom East is geologically continuous with the Bloom Lake orebody and is located east of the Quebec-Labrador boundary, less than 3 km from the Bloom Lake mill. Champion will also evaluate the northern section of Bloom East, which hosts iron-ore according to the Newfoundland and Labrador Geoscience Atlas.
Under the agreement, Champion will grant Supreme access to the Walsh prospect located on QIO’s Bloom Lake mining lease. The Walsh prospect is located 1.3 km away from the Bloom Lake mine and previously yielded results “running better than 11% cobalt”.
Champion will dedicate C$50 000 of its exploration budget to acquire geological data on the Walsh prospect and will further commit to a minimum spend of C$100 000 on exploration of Bloom East.
Supreme will provide its expertise on cobalt deposits and share data and findings emanating from its exploration to date. Further to such commitments, a long-term agreement will subsequently be considered, assuming the potential for one or both commodities is deemed positive by either company.
Champion will retain a right of first refusal to partner with Supreme on Bloom East for a period of three years following this agreement.