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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Another junior exploration company has joined in the search for rare metals near Yellowknife.

Vancouver-based TNR Gold Corp. has staked and acquired what it's calling the Moose 2 project, a small site host to rare metals, principally like lithium and tantalum, located 115 km east-southeast of Yellowknife.

Rare metal and rare earth core samples collected at the Thor Lake site being developed by Avalon Rare Metals. The company could have competition in its vicinity: another junior exploration company, TNR Gold Corp., has staked and purchased a smaller site 15 to 20 miles away, where it is looking for tantalum and lithium, both rare metals. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

Moose 2 was once a producing mine churning out tantalum in the 1950s, and though it was host to some further exploration in the 1980s, it was allowed to lapse by its owners, ultimately landing in the lap of the federal government.

In came TNR. Last February, the company purchased a series of 14 rare metal projects around the world: the Moose project in the NWT, plus three in Ontario, two in Nevada and eight in Ireland.

"We've been doing research on acquiring rare earth elements over the past six to eight months," Gary Schellenberg, president of TNR. "We have a team of geologists that have been working primarily on that, and I've been basing our acquisitions on their recommendations."

The company's interest in lithium is chiefly due to the growing demands placed on car companies to adopt greener manufacturing practices, said Schellenberg.

"A lithium battery is rapidly replacing the nickel-cadmium car batteries because (mainly), they're much lighter than the old standard batteries," he said.

According to Schellenberg, approximately 30 per cent of lithium produced in the world is used in batteries, and that number could grow along with the popularity of electric cars.

"It's a sought-after commodity, so a lot of the juniors are looking for lithium ground," said Gary Vivian, president of Aurora Geosicences, which was contracted by TNR to stake Moose 2 in February.

With the aid of two others, Vivian spent a full day marking the ground with posts.

He said requests for work on rare metals sites are increasing; this summer, his company will be visiting a rare metal site east of the Rio Tinto Diavik Diamond Mine and another southwest of Rankin Inlet.

Vivian declined to say what companies have hired him on, but TNR will be sending Aurora back to the Moose site this summer for what Schellenberg called "a thorough initial investigation" that will involve taking samples and possibly conducting geophysical work to extend the current showings.

The work will last one week and require between two to four workers, said Schellenberg.

The moose site is approximately 15 to 20 miles away from Thor Lake, the site of a rare metals and rare earth deposit currently being developed by Avalon Rare Metals.

The Thor Lake project is host to "a substantial amount of tantalum" and is much larger than the Moose 2 project, said Chris Pedersen, senior geologist with Avalon.

"There is no comparison whatsoever" between the two projects, he said.

"Lithium and tantalum are in the news and lots of companies are trying to pick up properties that contain (them)," added Pedersen. "But to make a go of any lithium or tantalum deposit, you need a really substantial tonnage and good grades."

According to Schellenberg, the tantalum present at Moose 2 could be mined at a rate of two kg per tonne, which he said "ranks fairly high."

After this summer's work, "we can determine how to proceed in developing the project," he added.