CO2 Lock Corp. Announces Initial Brucite-Rich Serpentinized Peridotite CCS Project Site in Central British Columbia
April 20, 2023 10:00 AM EDT | Source: CO2 Lock Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 20, 2023) - CO2 Lock Corp. ("CO2 Lock" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from its wholly owned SAM project in central British Columbia. The SAM property was initially staked in 2022 and is the Company's proposed initial location for carbon capture and storage ("CCS") projects based on brucite-rich serpentinized peridotite ("BRSP"). The Company is building on nearly a decade of research led by FPX Nickel ("FPX") on ultramafic mine tailings at its Decar project. CO2 Lock is utilizing similar mineralogy to develop stand-alone CCS projects which may include the use of in-situ and ex-situ technologies. After a successful year of prospecting and research at SAM, the property has been expanded through staking to cover additional area prospective for BSRP based on geophysical and geochemical survey data.
Key Points
- SAM is strategically located near large CO2 emission sources in Central British Columbia, a province where ex-situ carbon mineralization has an estimated sequestration capacity of 56 Gt CO21 in ultramafic rocks.
- Project area recently expanded to the north by 11 square kilometers, for a total area of 41 square kilometers (km).
- Successful 2022 sampling program demonstrates significant brucite values over a large area; at least 4 km x 2 km above 2.0% brucite, including 3.7 km x 0.4 km above 3.0% brucite.
- Structural geology assessment and terrain mapping is ongoing for site characterization and pilot project design.
- Upcoming field work is planned in summer 2023, incorporating hydrogeology, geology, water and bulk rock sampling from SAM site for CCS process development and scale up towards pilot scale and field demonstrations.
1. The Carbon Mineralization Potential of Ultramafic Rocks In British Columbia: A Preliminary Assessment Mitchinson, D., Cutts, J., Fournier, D., Naylor, A., Dipple, G., Hart, C.J.R., Turvey, C., Rahimi, M., Milidragovic, D. (2020). Geoscience BC Report 2020-15/MDRU Publication 452.
"We had a very successful first year of exploration at SAM with sampling results showing high brucite grades over a large area, exceeding our initial expectations," said Company President Cooper Quinn. "We have access to what is likely the best understood BRSP deposit globally through our partners at FPX Nickel, where there's been years of research on CO2 sequestration with similar rocks. To be seeing brucite values at surface consistently in line with or greater than FPX's deposit over a large area is quite exciting."
"As we'll soon be starting CO2 Lock's 2023 field work," he said, "we wanted to ensure our land holdings covered additional area prospective for BRSP contiguous to our initial claims. The newly acquired area increases our carbon mineralization potential at SAM and we will incorporate this additional ground into upcoming rock and water sampling as we develop Techno-Economic Assessments for ex-situ and in-situ CO2 sequestration later in the year, for both pilot and field demonstration scale projects."
Figure 1 - Project location map, showing location relative to Prince George, BC
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The 2022 rock sampling program was conducted over the SAM property in two phases. The initial phase focused on reconnaissance with widespread sample coverage over mapped ultramafics. The second phase was a focused program targeting higher-grade brucite zones identified from the analytical results of the first phase and structural mapping. A total of 115 representative chip samples and two bulk samples were collected over the claims between the two phases. Samples also showed significant serpentine - another mineral which mineralizes CO2, and ranges form 50-80% of the rock.
The Company is planning significant follow up work at the project in 2023, which will be announced in due course.
About SAM
Located approximately 50 kilometers southwest of Prince George, BC, the 4084 hectare SAM project was staked in 2022 based on regional mapping and geophysics showing a large, serpentinized ultramafic body composed primarily of harzburgite, dunnite, and peridotite. This ultramafic assemblage is very similar to FPX's Baptiste deposit in the Decar Nickel District where foundational research on CO2 mineralization has been conducted, and which forms the basis for CO2 Lock's process. During the 2022 season, CO2 Lock initiated a rock sampling program to assess brucite mineralization of economically sizeable untested ultramafic rocks within the province of British Columbia. The SAM property contains one of a number of ultramafic bodies identified by the BC Geological Survey through mapping and geophysical surveying along the same trend as the Decar Nickel District, and the Giga Metals Corp.'s Turnagain Nickel Project. These deposits and prospective bodies, including the SAM property, are all hosted within the Cache Creek Terrane, indicating similar geologically temporal and structural formation and obduction. These are key factors for brucite mineralization potential and increases the prospectivity of the SAM ultramafic bodies.
About CO2 Lock Corp.
On March 30, 2022, FPX announced the formation of CO2 Lock to pursue geoscience-related CCS opportunities. Building on five years of laboratory and field research conducted with partners including UBC and Natural Resources Canada, CO2 Lock is focused on developing CCS operations in geological settings worldwide with similarities to FPX's Decar Nickel District. CO2 Lock has established ownership in prospective mineral tenures and is developing intellectual property associated with the operation of CCS sites worldwide.
CO2 Lock's vision is to commercialize the CCS potential of ultramafic brucite-rich serpentinized peridotite host rocks, with a mission to license or construct and operate commercial CCS projects capable of permanently and profitably locking away hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2 per year at scale. In pursuit of this objective, CO2 Lock will execute exploration and engineering activities to advance the development of large-scale carbon operations capable of mineralizing carbon dioxide in these rocks and associated carbon-depleted waters both at-surface (ex-situ mineralization) and underground (in-situ mineralization). CO2 Lock's website is accessible at www.co2lockcorp.com. For more information, please contact Cooper Quinn, CEO, at cooper@co2lockcorp.com.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will play an important role in achieving Net Zero 2050 in Canada and globally. In a 2021 Navius Research report found that achieving net zero emissions in Canada will likely require significant use of CCS technology, with Canada's CCS industry growing to be 30-100 times its current size by 2050. CO2 Lock intends to develop and operating CCS projects that are large-scale, highly verifiable and permanent carbon storage.
For more information, please view the Company's website at www.co2lockcorp.com, or contact Cooper Quinn, CEO, at (778) 986-8192.
On behalf of CO2 Lock Corp.
"Cooper Quinn"
Cooper Quinn, CEO
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Actual results could differ from those currently projected. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
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