Montney In-Basin Silica Sand
Location
Northwest Alberta and Northeast British Columbia
Access
Primary and secondary highway access
Size
Over 60,000 hectares
AMI Silica
AMI Silica, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Athabasca Minerals Inc., is the owner of the Montney In-Basin Silica Sand Project in the vicinity of Dawson Creek, Alberta and Fort St John, British Columbia. This Project broadens the strategic growth and advancement of AMI Silica to become the ‘in-basin’ leader for the supply of premium domestic silica sand.
The project has undergone significant exploration work, including a preliminary drilling program on formerly-held claims, which indicated presence of material aligned with the specifications for sands used in hydraulic fracturing (API Standard 19C). Since then, AMI Silica has progressed a measured approach towards reducing the footprint of mineral claims in the region, narrowing down to only the most prospective sites.
The exploration to date has included field prospecting, airborne and ground-based geophysical surveys across the current claim block, and numerical modelling to estimate ocurrences of target material. Based on the current work, a drilling program is in the planning stage and is expected to be carried out on the remaining claims in Q4-2023 or Q1-2024.
The Montney basin represents over 50% of the entire frac sand demand in Canada. AMI Silica is taking a measured approach concerning expenditures in order to confirm the most suitable and cost-effective location for development within the 60,000 hectare area in which the mineral leases are held.
Firebag Frac Sand
Location
North of Fort McMurray, Alberta within the Wood Buffalo region of North East Alberta.
Access
Via Highway 63, and is near water and power sources
Size
80 acres approved, 420 acres in application
AMI Silica
Resource Estimate
Per the NI 43-101, the Athabasca Firebag Project has an indicated resource of 38.2 million tonnes with the following breakdown of products:
- 4.5 million tonnes of 20/40
- 19.3 million tonnes of 40/70
- 13.4 million tonnes of 70/140
- 1.0 million tonnes of 140/170
AMI Silica’s Firebag Project is located 95 km north of Fort McMurray, Alberta and is accessible via Highway 63. The planned operation is expected to produce industrial proppants for use in the hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells. Independent testing by both Stim Lab and Proptester confirmed a high-quality product with crush strength meeting or exceeding American Petroleum Institute and International Standards Organization standards for proppant.
