North Atlantic Titanium Corp. (CSE: NATO) has released additional information regarding its submission for drilling permits at the Everett Titanium-Vanadium-Phosphate project near Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec. The company is targeting a 25,000-meter drilling program focused on the northern portion of the Everett oxide body, based on compelling mineralogical characterization by Corem and recent verification of historical sampling.
According to the company, Corem analyzed a composite metallurgical sample from 57 sites across the Everett oxide body and reported that approximately 99% of oxide minerals consist of high-quality hemo-ilmenite with very low magnesium, manganese, and aluminum impurities. This finding distinguishes Everett from the nearby Lac Tio Mine, one of the world's largest ilmenite deposits. Rather than being a direct analogue, Everett is being drill-tested not only for its TiO2 content but also for its low Mg/Mn/Cr hemo-ilmenite, apatite as a potential phosphate coproduct, and vanadium with potential scandium credits.
The project represents a broader Fe-Ti-V-P critical-minerals opportunity than a conventional titanium orebody, according to the company. The Everett property is held under option from Romaine River Titanium Inc., and the company is awaiting a Permit for Forestry Activities (PAF) and a Permit for Work with Impact (ATI) for the drilling campaign. While awaiting permits, surface exploration and metallurgical sampling continue.
The diamond drilling plan focuses on confirming historical drilling from 1951 and 1968 in the northern area of the exposed Everett Oxide Body, totaling approximately 25,000 meters across 20 drill pads to be completed in three years or less. The northern area represents about 50% of the oxide body's tested surface strike length. The targeted body dips gently at 20-30° to the east-southeast.
Stage 1 under the ATI application will comprise 6,000 meters of widely spaced, west-oriented drilling between Section 9N and 19N along a swath 1,320 meters along strike and 600 meters down-dip. This stage will delineate the oxide body limits, collect samples for assay and metallurgical analyses, and frame follow-up drilling. Stage 2 will involve success-contingent infill drilling to define a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), requiring about 19,000 meters of diamond drilling. Stage 1 is expected to commence upon acceptance of the ATI application, with Stage 2 likely beginning in late winter 2026-27.
The mineralized unit on the property is an oxide-apatite-gabbronorite (Unit 7), spanning more than 6 km of strike length. The main area of historical sampling and drilling within Unit 7 is named the Everett Oxide Body, which remains open along strike and down-dip. Corem's mineralogical characterization on a composite sample (Col154) from 57 sites across the oxide body showed a weighted-average head grade of 37.0% Fe2O3, 17.4% TiO2, 0.18% V2O5, and 2.27% P2O5, with over 99% of oxides being hemo-ilmenite.
The Everett project is located in the Grenville Province of eastern Quebec, a region with several major Proterozoic anorthosite-mangerite-charnockite-granite magmatic systems and associated iron, titanium, and phosphorus deposits. The Everett and nearby Lac Tio deposit are hosted by the Lac Allard Anorthosite intrusion, dated at approximately 1.06 Ga. While Lac Tio is a massive hemo-ilmenite cumulate with high MgO content, Everett is hosted by a layered intrusion with an oxide-apatite-gabbronorite affinity, containing hemo-ilmenite with significantly lower Mg, Mn, Cr, and Al. The Corem hemo-ilmenite sample had a mean MgO content of 0.38%, compared to 1.6-3.2 wt.% MgO at Lac Tio.
CEO Dwayne Yaretz stated: “Metallurgical results reinforce the Company’s strategy to advance a secure, domestic critical minerals processing supply chain in Canada - supporting defense readiness and the reshoring of Western titanium metal production. Our Stage 1 Program will define our technical program and follow-up drilling for the next 18 to 24 months.”
The company is working with Romaine River in collaboration with Centre technologique des residus industriels (CTRI), Impact Global Solutions (IGS), and Corem under the Elements08 program, funded by the Government of Quebec. Corem is a Quebec City-based non-profit applied research center specializing in mineral processing.
For more information, visit www.natitanium.com.
