Defense Metals Corp. has issued a progress update regarding its 2023 site infrastructure geotechnical investigations for the Wicheeda Rare Earth Element (REE) Project near Prince George, Canada. The investigations, supported by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., are a crucial part of the preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for the project.

Key aspects of the geotechnical investigation by SRK include:

1. Geotechnical Engineering: This covers the examination of waste rock, tailings, contact water pond, and site infrastructure.

2. Tailings Alternative Assessment: This assessment is conducted prior to advancing to the PFS-level design of a preferred tailings storage alternative.

3. Geochemical Characterization: The goal is to develop preliminary water chemistry predictions for the main mine facilities and support mine planning and waste management.

The ongoing work involves field site inspections, including excavated test pits and sonic overburden drill holes to analyze the soil subsurface and bedrock foundations of potential future waste rock storage, mineralization stockpile, contact water pond, crusher, processing plant, and tailings storage facility locations.

As of now, 13 excavated test pits and 4 sonic overburden geotechnical holes have been completed, offering insight into the surficial material conditions within various proposed areas. The investigations encountered shallow overburden conditions and varying depths to bedrock.

SRK consultants supervised the investigations, conducted soil geotechnical logging, direct testing, and sampling, among other activities. The collected data will be processed and integrated into the QA/QC dataset.

Furthermore, SRK has initiated a tailings alternatives assessment and a geochemical characterization. The latter involves a review and compilation of site geological and geochemical data and the development of a sampling plan for geochemical characterization of the proposed mine facilities.

The geotechnical investigations are set to continue in September, along with additional pit geotechnical core holes totaling 820 meters. The findings from these investigations will contribute to the overall project planning, design, and feasibility considerations for the Wicheeda Rare Earth Element Project.

 

Source: prnewswire.com

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