Empire holds the right to acquire an 80% interest in the Graphite West Hydrothermal Project, a highly prospective hydrothermal graphite exploration target. Key to this asset is the location. Empires Graphite West Hydrothermal Project is immediately west and adjacent to Zenyatta Ventures’ Albany deposit, a highly prospective hydrothermal graphite deposit. Zenyatta’s Albany deposit is the only high purity hydrothermal graphite deposit being developed in the world. Zenyatta reports it is testing at a yield of 99.9% carbon purity.
Graphite and lithium share very similar clean tech applications. Graphite is used in electric vehicles, along with energy grids and electronics, along with lithium-ion batteries.
Empire plans to monitor events at Zenyatta Ventures while it conducts preliminary exploration and prospecting at our Graphite West Project.
Graphite West Hydrothermal Project
- Comprised of 32 claims and 650 hectares of land
- Located 75 km NW of Hearst, Ontario the property is located in the mineral-rich Porcupine Mining Division of Northern Ontario.
- Hydrothermal graphite was first discovered when Zenyatta Ventures targeted platinum metals and copper mineralization on the coincident magnetic lows and electro-magnetic highs. However, while drilling into these anomalies, intersected breccia pipe style graphite rich bodies. This discovery sparked a staking rush in the area and Empire was among the first to acquire the ground adjacent to Zenyatta.
- Empire is in a position to discover a similar graphite rich body, with current plans to explore the property by airborne VTEM survey.
- Zenyatta is targeting a Norilsk, Voisey’s Bay or Eagle type Cu-Ni deposit, with a value in excess of $1 billion at the Albany project – Zenyatta website
- The Graphite West Project is located in the “Arc of Fire”.
About The “Arc of Fire”
The “Arc of Fire” consists of several large multi-phased mafic-ultramafic-alkalic complexes forming an arc line approximately 150km long. The “Arc of Fire” is believed to also represent a deep seated Proterozoic structure that may be related to the 1.1 billion year old Mid-Continent Rifting. The Mid-Continent Rift is a known deep seated structural environment that hosts a number of significant mineral deposits around Lake Superior, including the recently discovered Rio Tinto’s Eagle, Tamarack Cu-Ni deposits and Magma’s TBN PGM deposit. Rifting environments around the world are host to many large mineral deposits. Source: Thunder Bay NetNews Ledger
Graphite:
- China has imposed export duties, restrictions and licenses on new and existing mines.
- It requires 30 to 40 times more graphite than lithium to make a lithium ion battery.
- Graphite maintains its strength and stability to temperatures of 3,600°C.
- Graphite is very resistant to chemical attack.
- Graphite is both electrically and heat conductive.
- Graphite and diamonds are the only two natural forms of pure carbon.
- Graphite is one of the lightest of all reinforcing agents.
- Graphite acts as a natural lubricant
- There are almost no substitutes and little recycling of graphite.
Uses:
- Fuel
- Li-ion Batteries
- Mobile phones
- Flame retardants
- Computers
- Cameras
- Approximately 95% of the all Li-ion batteries are manufactured in Japan.