VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SAGA Metals Corp.("SAGA" or the "Company") (TSXV: SAGA) (OTCQB: SAGMF) (FSE: 20H), a North American exploration company focused on critical mineral discovery, is pleased to provide a complete overview of the Radar Titanium-Vanadium (Ti-V) Project as equipment, fuel, diamond drill and personnel begin to arrive in Labrador for the maiden drill program set to commence in a weeks time.
The Radar Ti-V Property is located 10km south of Cartwright in Labrador, Canada. The project spans 17,250 hectares and benefits from road access, supporting efficient exploration and development.
Radar’s Hawkeye zone is the most prospective target on the property. Detailed geophysics and surface samples are suggestive of a complex and multi-phased layered mafic intrusion that may be upwards of 1km wide, 4km long and potentially over 600m deep. Recent geophysics completed on the property show very detailed correlation to the rock samples and observed phase changes in the system.
SAGA aims to complete a 1,500m drill program at the Hawkeye zone over the area encompassing the anomalous TiO2 and V2O5 surface samples.
Radar Project Surface Assay Highlights Include:
Titanium Dioxide (TiO2): 49 samples returned assay values exceeding 4.0%, with a peak value of 11.1%.
Vanadium Pentoxide (V2O5): 36 samples exceeded 0.2%, with a high of 0.63%.
Iron (Fe): 34 samples returned values over 20%, reaching a high of 46.7%.
Radar Project Target Zones:
Hawkeye Zone: contains grades up to 11.1% TiO2 and 0.66% V2O5
Trapper Zone: contains grades up to 8% TiO2 and 0.28% V2O5
Unnamed Transitional Zone (between Hawkeye and Trapper): contains grades up to 7.6% TiO2 and 0.302% V2O5
Saga Metals Corp.
Radar Project and corresponding geophysics highlight multiple anomalies across the property
Assay results have confirmed the magnetic anomalies within both the Hawkeye and Trapper zones are mineralized, establishing a combined strike of just over 8km in length between the two zones. Preliminary indications suggest a possible connection between the trends through a transitional zone, which increases the mineralized strike to ~9.5km through verified samples.
Maiden Drill Program Q1 2025: Drilling is scheduled to commence this month with a minimum 1,500m program at the Radar Ti-V Projects. The Hawkeye zone is the most advanced zone with both surface samples and detailed geophysics creating clear drill targets. Assays have returned consistent values between 2.5 - 11.1% TiO2 and 0.2 - 0.66% V2O5, confirming the presence of high-grade titanium & vanadium across a potential 1km wide and 4km long trend further confirmed with geophysics.
Recent Geophysics of the Hawkeye Zone Highlights:
Expanded Zone Width: Geophysical surveys suggest the Hawkeye Zone’s potential width has increased from 500m to 1km.
Significant Strike Length: Surface sampling and geophysical results infer a 4km mineralized strike length.
High-Grade Mineralization: The Hawkeye Zone includes high-grade mineralization, with samples returning 2.5% – 11.1% TiO₂ and 0.2% – 0.66% V₂O₅.
Mineralized System Defined: Advanced geophysics and magnetic inversion interpretation clearly outlines the phases of a layered mafic intrusion and mineralization potential over 600m at depth, creating drill-ready targets.
SAGA Metals successfully completed a detailed magnetic and electromagnetic (EM) survey over the northwest section of the Hawkeye Zone at the Radar Project. Utilizing ground-based equipment on a tightly spaced grid, with 25 meters between stations and 50-meter line spacing, the survey delivered high-resolution magnetic and conductivity data. This effort has proven highly effective in mapping magnetite-rich zones within the Gabbro Norite host rock, a key indicator of titanium (TiO₂) and vanadium (V₂O₅) mineralization.
The magnetic survey was so successful that the high-resolution imagery combined with sample assays and field observations can be used to map some of the most distinguishing features of the system throughout this zone.
Spanning nearly 1km in width with a near-vertical orientation the Hawkeye zone is the most prospective target on the property with geophysics now defining the phases of a layered mafic intrusion sampled in the 2023-2024 field programs. The results of this survey provide exceptional clarity, combining high-definition imagery with sample assays and field observations to identify distinct geological phases within the Hawkeye Zone. The eastern portion of the zone is characterized by alternating silica-rich (magnetite-depleted) bands and high-grade magnetite layers, with titanium and vanadium grades ranging from 5 to 11% TiO₂ and 0.3 to 0.66% V₂O₅. Moving westward, the system transitions into gabbro norite rocks containing disseminated magnetite. These rocks exhibit consistent but lower grades, averaging 3 to 5% TiO₂ and 0.1 to 0.2% V₂O₅.
SAGA Metals Corp.
Geophysics completed over a targeted area within the Hawkeye Zone increasing width to 1km and a projected 4km strike
Magnetic Inversion Interpretation:
SAGA continued to update its geophysics with the magnetic inversions of the Hawkeye zone. Completed by Chris and David Mark of Geotronics, the magnetic inversions can project, with a high degree of certainty up to 400 meters in depth, what the mineralized magnetic body looks like beneath the surface.
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Magnetic inversion of the Hawkeye zone looking north-northeast. Range of > 0.02 susceptibility cut off.
SAGA Metals Corp.
Same magnetic inversion of the Hawkeye zone looking east at profile cross section with > 0.02 susceptibility cut off.
Petrographic Analysis at the Radar Ti-V Project:
Recent petrographic work completed by Dr. Al Miller on rock samples from the Hawkeye zone have increased the understanding of the mineralogical host of titanium and vanadium mineralization at the Radar project. This sets the foundation for the metallurgical work the team hopes to be able to build on during the 2025 drill programs.
First look at the petrography of the Hawkeye zone reveals more than one composition of magnetite; evidence which contributes to the hypothesis of multiphase mineralization events. Additionally, petrographic evidence reveals that much of the titanium and vanadium mineralization occurs within magnetite with a lack of ilmenite in many of the layers. This is key to understanding how these elements are locked up together and ultimately how they’ll separate during extraction. These layers have assayed high TiO2% and V2O5% leading to the use of Vanadium Titanomagnetite (VTM) classification of several mineralized layers of the Hawkeye zone. Ilmenite with exsolution lamellae of the magnetite was observed but only in a few cases. This has contributed to what can be called differential compositional layering and multiple mineralization magmatic layering events.
VTM’s are a mineralization style that has not received much attention in North America but is a pivotal piece of China’s iron, titanium and vanadium mining and production industry.
Trapper Zone Shows Promising Titanium and Vanadium Anomalies Despite Limited Exposure:
The Trapper Zone spans a strike length of ~4.3km, slightly longer than the Hawkeye Zone, though it has significantly less surface exposure. The lack of outcrop and subcrop initially posed challenges for the exploration team; however, the implementation of an extensive soil grid successfully yielded the first geochemical confirmation of the Trapper Zone’s correlation with previously identified geophysical anomalies.
Key findings from the Trapper Zone include:
Soil anomalies with values ranging from 1.0 - 1.1% Ti and 140 - 190 ppm V.
Rock sample anomalies with values between 2.5 - 8% TiO2 and up to 0.28% V2O5.
Although only 30 rock samples were collected due to limited exposure and ground cover, the consistent anomalies found in both soil and rock samples provide compelling evidence to justify targeted exploration in this zone.
Further work, including additional surface sampling, trenching, and geophysical surveys, is planned to unlock the full potential of the Trapper Zone in 2025.
Transition Zone Presents Key Opportunity for Further Understanding of Radar Ti-V System:
A possible third, transitional zone, located between the Hawkeye and Trapper zones, presents a significant opportunity for further exploration. While its relationship to either zone remains unclear, this transitional area could help determine whether the Hawkeye and Trapper zones are folded limbs of the same system or represent different phases of a multi-phase, complex layered mafic intrusion.
Comparable Projects in the Grenville Geological Province:
SAGA Metals Corp.
A Map of the Grenville Geological Province
The Grenville Geological Province is known for its significant deposits of iron, titanium, vanadium (Fe-Ti-V), and Platinum Group Metals (PGM). A key comparison point is North America's largest titanium-vanadium project, located at Lac Tio in Quebec, just southwest of SAGA's Radar Project. Notably, both projects share the same rich geological setting.
Strategic Resources is a Montreal-based development company focused on vanadium, high-purity iron ore and titanium with their BlackRock project located in Quebec west of Lac Tio right on the Grenville Front (as seen in the map above).
Like, the Radar Ti-V project, these projects all have basement rock dated over 1 billion years old, and all share components of the deep-rooted mafic rock of the Grenville Province.
Strategic Resources completed an amended feasibility study1 on March 26, 2024, on the Southwest deposit hosted within the BlackRock project confirming a proven and probably reserve of 127.8Mt with 0.46% V2O5, 40.2% Fe2O3 and 7.8% TiO2. The Southwest deposit spans 2.5km in length and averaging 110m in mineralized thickness with a projected mine life of 39 years. The projected financial outcome of the mine estimates after-tax cashflows of C$12.055 billion with a 5.4-year payback period including an after-tax net-present-value (8%) of C$1.932 billion and an 18.2% after-tax internal rate of return.
Michael Garagan, CGO & Director of SAGA Metals Corp. commented: “All the final preparations are underway in Labrador. Equipment and fuel have been shipped and will arrive any day. Core logging and on-site lay down areas are being prepared. Our team, including myself, and the drilling contractors are all set to arrive early next week with our first diamond drill turning shortly thereafter. This project is a testament to our corporate mandate of completing the necessary due diligence and robust investigation to find exploration worthy grass roots projects. Radar has the potential of unlocking value with our first zone; one of potentially multiple zones on our property confirming high-grade mineralization at surface in a 1km by 4km area and potentially over 600m at depth. Needless to say, we are very excited to commence drilling on two projects in Q1.”
About SAGA Metals Corp.
SAGA Metals Corp. is a North American mining company focused on the exploration and discovery of critical minerals that support the global transition to green energy. The company's flagship asset, the Double Mer Uranium Project, is located in Labrador, Canada, covering 25,600 hectares. This project features uranium radiometrics that highlight an 18-kilometer east-west trend, with a confirmed 14-kilometer section producing samples as high as 0.4281% U3O8 and spectrometer readings of 22,000cps.
In addition to its uranium focus, SAGA owns the Legacy Lithium Property in Quebec's Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. This project, developed in partnership with Rio Tinto, has been expanded through the acquisition of the Amirault Lithium Project. Together, these properties cover 65,849 hectares and share significant geological continuity with other major players in the area, including Rio Tinto, Winsome Resources, Azimut Exploration, and Loyal Lithium.
SAGA also holds secondary exploration assets in Labrador, where the company is focused on the discovery of titanium, vanadium, and iron ore. With a portfolio that spans key minerals crucial to the green energy transition, SAGA is strategically positioned to play an essential role in the clean energy future.
For more information, contact: SAGA Metals Corp. Investor Relations Tel: +1 (778) 930-1321 Email: info@sagametals.com www.sagametals.com
Qualified Person
Peter Webster P.Geo. CEO of Mercator Geological Services Limited is an Independent Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information related to the Radar Ti-V Project disclosed in this news release.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Details of Strategic Resources feasibility study conducted on the BlackRock project can be found on their website here or Strategic Resources Inc’s Sedar+ profile here www.sedarplus.ca
