First Energy Metals Drills 1.22 Percent Lithium Oxide Over 10.5 Meters at Augustus Lithium Property

VANCOUVER, BC, July 20, 2021 /CNW/ - First Energy Metals Ltd. (CSE: FE) ("First Energy" or the "Company) is pleased to announce results of drill hole LC21-22 at its Augustus Lithium Property in Quebec, Canada. The drill hole intersected a 10.5-meter-wide zone with 1.22 percent (%) lithium oxide (Li2O) at 69 metres (m) drilled depth. There are anomalous values of other rare metals as well including average values of niobium (Nb) 65 parts per million (ppm), rubidium (Rb) 967 ppm, tantalum (Ta) 83 ppm, beryllium (Be) 187 ppm, cesium (Cs) 39.9 ppm, and iron (Fe) is 0.42. There is an upper 5.1 metres wide mineralized intersection starting at 53.3 metres with 0.49% lithium oxide. This upper intersection is marked with high rubidium values where three samples are over 5,000 ppm rubidium which is above the laboratory's method detection limit(see Table 1 for details).

Drill hole LC21-22 was drilled at the Augustus Lithium Prospect on the Property. It was drilled at location: 286934E, 5367973N (NAD 1983 UTM Zone 18N), Azimuth 53.2 degrees, Dip 58.8 degrees with a total drilled depth of 168 m. All intersections reported are based on drilled width and have not been converted to the true width.

The drill program is based on the historical exploration data and the Company's surface trenching and sampling program which is currently underway. Several historical drill hole collars were also located on the Property which helped in location and orientation of drill holes for the current program. The Drill program commenced on April 5^th at the Property by Forage Hebert Inc. Drilling of Amos, Quebec who is contracted for the drill program. A B-20 drill rig is deployed for this work which has a capacity to drill up to 1,000-meter-deep hole. A core shack has been built near the Property for drill core logging, sample preparation and storage. To date a total of 26 drill holes with a cumulative core drilling of 4,505 m has been completed on the Property. The drill core is being logged and sampled at the core shack using a rock saw. For quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC), field duplicates, standards and blanks are being inserted at industry standard intervals.

The samples were bagged and tagged using best practices and were delivered to Activation Laboratories ("ACTLABS"), Ancaster, Ontario for sample preparation and analyses using laboratories code Ultratrace 7 and sodium peroxide fusion (Na2O2) as summarized below. ACTLABS is an independent commercial, accredited ISO Certified Laboratory.  

Code Ultratrace 7 – Peroxide Fusion – ICP and ICP/MS
Samples are fused with sodium peroxide in a Zirconium crucible. The fused sample is acidified with concentrated nitric and hydrochloric acids. The resulting solutions are diluted and then measured by ICP-OES and ICP-MS. All metals are solubilized.

ICP-MS
Fused samples are diluted and analyzed by Agilent 7900 ICP-MS. Calibration is performed using five synthetic calibration standards. A set of (10-20) fused certified reference material is run with every batch of samples for calibration and quality control. Fused duplicates are run every 10 samples.

ICP-OES
Samples are analyzed with a minimum of 10 certified reference materials for the required analytes, all prepared by sodium peroxide fusion. Every 10^th sample is prepared and analyzed in duplicate; a blank is prepared every 30 samples and analyzed. Samples are analyzed using a Varian 735ES ICP and internal standards are used as part of the standard operating procedure. Source: https://actlabs.com/geochemistry/lithogeochemistry-and-whole-rock-analysis/peroxide-total-fusion/

Afzaal Pirzada, P.Geo., Geological Consultant of the Company, and a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

About the Augustus Lithium Property

The Company owns 100% interest in Augustus Lithium Property in Landrienne & Lacorne-Townships, Quebec, Canada. The Property consists of 337 mining claims covering a total area of over 15,000 hectares located approximately 40 kilometres northwest of the town of Val d'Or on map sheets 32C/05 and 32D08. The Property claims are spread in several claim blocks optioned in 2021 from different vendors. The Company has prepared a work plan on the property which includes diamond drilling, metallurgical testwork to produce battery grade lithium carbonate, and resource estimation. To date, the Company has compiled historical drill hole data on the Property for 74 historical dill holes with a cumulative drilling of 12,123.14 m, out which 6,024 m drilling was completed on the lithium prospects during 1950s. Several drill hole results indicated intersections over 1% lithium oxide.

About First Energy Metals Limited.

First Energy Metals is a Canadian mineral exploration company with a primary focus of acquiring a multicommodity mineral property portfolio. Its goal is to identify, acquire and explore North American mineral prospects in the technology metals, precious metal, and base metal sector.

The company's strategy is to:

• Acquire and advance projects through prospecting and early-stage exploration;
• Source joint venture partners to finance future exploration and project development;
• Create shareholder value through exploration success.

First Energy will continue to add to its multicommodity portfolio through organic acquisitions of new projects and opportunities with the intention of adding value and projects over time.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF
FIRST ENERGY METALS LTD.

"Gurminder Sangha"
Gurminder Sangha
President & Chief Executive Officer

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-looking Information 

Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. "Forward-looking information" in this news release includes information about the Company's information concerning the intentions, plans and future actions of the parties to the transactions described herein and the terms thereon.

The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions about the Company's ability to obtain required approvals. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

Table 1: Drill Hole LC21-22 Sample assays highlights

Note: A standard conversion factor of 2.15 was used to report Li to Li2O values
All intersections reported are based on drilled width and have not been converted to the true width.

SOURCE First Energy Metals Limited