–Niobium and rare earth element targets to be tested in underexplored carbonatite system
Apex Critical Metals Corp. (CSE: APXC | OTCQX: APXCF | FWB: KL9) (“Apex” or the “Company”), a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on strategic critical metals, is pleased to provide an update on its 2025 diamond drill program at its 100%-owned Cap Critical Minerals Project in central British Columbia.
The Cap Project, covering approximately 2,500 hectares, is host to carbonatite-hosted niobium and rare earth element (REE) mineralization, situated 85 km northeast of Prince George, BC. The 2025 exploration program will comprise up to 1,500 metres of diamond drilling and is fully funded and permitted under a five-year Multi-Year Area-Based (MYAB) permit.
Sean Charland, CEO of Apex, remarked, “As drilling continues, we are encouraged with the initial mineral observations by our geological team by what we’ve now identified within drill core samples, based on visual observations and portable XRF results, as mineralized carbonatite at our Cap project.”
To date, four drill holes (CAP25-005, 006, 007 and 008) have been completed, for a total of 1,097 m, near the eastern extremity of the coincident soil geochemical and geophysical anomaly identified in prior exploration (see Figure 4). All drill holes intersected various intervals of carbonatite, fenite, and/or syenite that range from a few metres to more than 300-m drilled thickness (i.e., core length). The Company has yet to determine the true thickness and orientation of the carbonatite body, though it is now postulated that the carbonatite is near vertical in orientation.
Through geological logging of drill core, and supported by spot portable XRF readings, visible pyrochlore (Nb mineral) (see Figures 1 and 2) and rare earth minerals (see Figure 3) have been noted within various phases of the carbonatite. The Company cautions that the presence of carbonatite and identification of mineralization in drill core is based on visual mineral identification and spot portable XRF readings only and, therefore, until laboratory geochemical assays are received on core samples, there can be no confirmed determination as to the presence of niobium and/or rare earth element bearing minerals.
The first batch of samples from CAP25-005 and CAP25-006 have been processed and shipped to Activation Laboratories Ltd. preparation facility located in Kamloops, British Columbia with the geological team continuing to process the remaining core onsite. Core assays results are expected to be received over the next several weeks and continue into the fall.
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