In the Spring of 2017, management became aware of a recent significant niobium discovery made by well-known Prospector Rudy Wahl, located just outside of Marathon, Ontario.
An option agreement was entered into between Plato and Rudy Wahl, and the property was mapped and sampled in the summer of 2017 with promising results. The strategy is to drill the property close to the original high grade discovery trench, with a 5,000 metre drill program. Drilling will give more information to Plato’s geologists, who are very well experienced at working with carbonatite and pyrochlore-bearing rocks, the main host rocks for niobium on the property.
The goal is to outline a significant, high grade, close to surface niobium deposit. Niobium has been recently named a “strategic metal” by the U.S. government, with government documents and committees recommending stockpiling niobium along with other strategic metals. With over 90% of the world’s niobium mined and produced in Brazil, it stands to reason that a new, high grade deposit found in Canada would be very favourably looked at.
Plato’s goal is to drill enough metres to be able to identify an economically viable and mineable niobium deposit located in an excellent jurisdiction near to existing infrastructure. Such an asset would be very valuable as evidenced by recent investment interest in the only 3 mines in the world that currently produce niobium as their primary ore.