Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)

Focus Graphite Inc. is a company specialising in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineralx000D
properties, which is on track to produce a graphite concentrate at its Lac Knife deposit located south-west ofx000D
Fermont, Québec. The company also holds a 50 % share with SOQUEM Inc. in the Kwyjibo rare earth elementx000D
(REE) exploration project, the focus of this study, If the exploration is successful, Focus Graphite will bring ax000D
REE deposit into production possibly with byproduct Cu and Au. The Kwyjibo deposit comprises the intenselyx000D
explored (by drilling) Josette REE mineralised zone, plus nine other showings with enrichments in the REE,x000D
Cu and Au in a corridor measuring ~4 km by ~600 m. As there are few outcrops, the challenge now is tox000D
develop an effective strategy for discovering additional zones of mineralisation in this corridor, not only of thex000D
REE but also of Cu and Au. Most of the known mineralisation is hosted by leucogranites, which werex000D
emplaced at approximately 1170 Ma and affected by amphibolite facies metamorphism at 1083-1076 Ma. Thex000D
Josette mineralised zone comprises massive/brecciated magnetitite and stockworks of calc-silicate veinsx000D
containing REE-bearing minerals (apatite, britholite and allanite), garnet, titanite, and fluorite that are cut byx000D
veins containing pyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. An important feature of the deposits is the elevatedx000D
concentration of the REE in garnet and titanite. Systematic analysis of this content, that of the correspondingx000D
LREE/HREE ratio (L snd H refer to light and heavy), which should decrease towards mineralization (the LREEx000D
are more mobile than the HREE) and that of other elements could therefore provide powerful vectors to REEx000D
mineralisation. The proposed research will be based on reconnaissance logging and sampling of a smallx000D
number of representative drill holes, and surface samples. Compositions of the various minerals will bex000D
analysed using a combination of EMP and LA-ICP-MS. As a result, the project will develop a newx000D
methodology that will aid in the exploration for and discovery of economic REE deposits both in Québec andx000D
elsewhere in Canada.