District Metals Corp. (TSXV: DMX) (FSE: DFPP); (“District” or the “Company”) is pleased to report that Bergslagen Metals AB (a 100% owned Swedish subsidiary of District) has received approval from the Bergsstaten (Mining Inspectorate) for the Tåsjö nr 101 to 105 mineral license applications to explore for vanadium, nickel, molybdenum, zinc, and rare earth elements (REE) located in the Jämtland and Västerbottens Counties, north-central Sweden (Figure 1). Similarly to District’s Viken Property that controls 68% of the uranium-vanadium Viken Deposit, the Tåsjö Property was assembled to target sedimentary rocks that are known to host critical energy metals and minerals.
Tåsjö Property Highlights:
The Tåsjö nr 101 to 105 mineral licenses cover an area of 15,625 hectares (ha) that are prospective for uranium, REE, phosphate, vanadium, molybdenum, nickel, zinc, and copper.
In the Tåsjö area, Cambro-Ordovician sedimentary units overlie the Proterozoic intrusive basement, which is a similar geological setting that hosts the Viken Deposit.
The Tåsjö Field was historically estimated to host 75 to 150 million tonnes grading 0.03 to 0.07% U3O8, 0.11 to 0.24% REE, and 3.75 to 7.5% phosphate (P2O5)1. This historical exploration target estimate is based on a 1964 Report by G. Armands, Swedish Atomic Energy Company, and the Company is not treating it as a current mineral resource estimate. The potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature, as there has not been sufficient exploration to define the target at this time; and it is uncertain that further exploration would result in the definition of a current resource. The magnitude of the exploration target was confirmed in a 2008 NI43-101 technical report by Andrew Browne of Geosynthesis Pty Ltd.
Shallow historical drilling in the Tåsjö area returned positive results for uranium, REE, and phosphate in the Ordovician lycophoria schist while the much thicker underlying Cambro-Ordovician Alum Shale (Viken Deposit host unit) was not fully explored2.
The Tåsjö area hosts one of the thickest units of Alum Shale in Sweden that can reach up to 400 meters in thickness due to folding and overthrusting2.
Mineral License Tåsjö nr 104 contains a historical drill hole completed by the Swedish Geological Survey (SGU) in 1979 that encountered Alum Shale from surface to the end of hole depth at 258.3 m. It was logged several years after drilling and the drill core was not assayed.
There is currently a moratorium on uranium mining and exploration that was imposed in 2018. The Swedish Government has a positive stance on re-evaluating and lifting the moratorium.
Garrett Ainsworth, CEO of District, commented: “Our acquisition of the Tåsjö Property through mineral license application is part of District’s strategy in building a portfolio of energy metals properties in Sweden. The Alum Shale is a potentially significant source of critical metals and minerals necessary for the green energy transition towards a low-carbon future at a time when domestic security of supply has become a priority for many European Countries.
The Company and its consultants continue to monitor developments with regard to the lifting of the moratorium on exploration and mining of uranium in Sweden. District remains optimistic that the current Swedish government is committed to re-evaluating the moratorium and pursuing policies which are positive for Sweden and a low-carbon Europe.”
Background
The Alum Shale in Sweden contains several of the innovation-critical metals and minerals used for the development of green technology needed to respond to the transition of zero-emission and electrification of society. Alum Shale are rocks where most of the constituent minerals originate from the sediments that were once deposited in the sea that covered large parts of Sweden, some 500 million years ago, which are now found at surface along the mountain edge of the Caledonian Front. Thrusting and deformation within the Alum Shale formation can result in thickening of over 100 m sequences.
Alum Shale contains various concentrations of metals and minerals currently included in the European Union (EU) list of Critical Raw Materials. Over time, additional metals and minerals may also be added to the EU list, which are not currently considered critical but where innovations and accessibility can change the status of their importance. In the future, this may further strengthen the utilization of Alum Shale as a natural resource3.
At the Tåsjö area, Alum Shale of Upper Cambrian age is found within the Fjällbränna Formation and is overlaid by the Ordovician Norråker Formation (previous Graywacke-Shale Formation). The Norråker Formation was deposited in a hinge zone representing the transition from a limestone dominated shelf facies towards east and successively deeper marine environment towards west with turbidite facies epiclastic sediments. Due to tectonic deformation and thrusting the thickness of the Alum Shale locally becomes more than 300 m thick. At Tåsjöberg, drill hole Kyrk-Tåsjö 79001 encountered Alum Shale from surface to a depth of 258.3 m, which was logged several years after drilling and was never assayed.
The basal part of the overlying Norråker Formation is a calcareous, glauconitic, phosphatic sand- siltstone that is 5 to 8 m thick. It contains several coarse to fine repetitions until it passes into overlying siltstone and shale. This glauconitic-phosphatic unit is found throughout the Lower Paleozoic sequence from Skåne to Jämtland on top of the Alum Shale Formation. In the Tåsjö area this phosphatic Lycophoria unit is unusually thick. The phosphorus sediments are thought to have formed by upwelling of cold seawater onto a warmer shelf causing precipitation of apatite similar to phosphorite deposits.
In 1957, AB Atomenergi (Swedish Atomic Energy Company) discovered anomalous uranium in the Tåsjö Field in northernmost Jämtland close to the border to the Västerbotten County. Uranium was found in glauconite-phosphorite shale within the basal Ordovician unit that is outcropping sporadically within an area of 20 to 30 km long and 10 km wide. In total 68 drill holes were completed from 1961 to 1964 by AB Atomenergi. The area has also been drilled by Stora Kopparberg AB (7 drill holes), SGU (38 drill holes), and Vattenbyggnadsbyrån (41 drillholes), which totals 8,005 m of drilling. The investigations were focused on the Lycophoria Schist with little attention given to the Alum Shales2.
Both Mawson Energy and Continental Precious Minerals held mineral licenses in the Tåsjö area from 2005 to 2012 for uranium and vanadium. Mawson drilled 53 shallow holes at the Kronotorpet prospect, and Continental Precious Minerals drilled 378 m in four holes.
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