Allkem's a lithium rockstar in the James Bay region and these junior explorers are looking to follow in its footsteps. Pic: via Getty Images
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The James Bay region in Quebec, Canada, may already be one of the hottest lithium exploration addresses in the world but recent activity – including Allkem upgrading resources at its project by 173% – has really turned up the heat.
Allkem (ASX:AKE) credits the increase in resources to 110.2Mt grading 1.3% Li2O – including 54.3Mt at 1.3% Li2O in the higher confidence Indicated category – to two drill campaigns that it had carried out at its James Bay project since early 2022.
To put it in some context, the resource nips at the heels of Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT) Corvette property in the same region, allegedly the eighth largest spodumene deposit globally with a resource of 109.2Mt at 1.42% Li2O.
Additionally, Canaccord Genuity’s Reg Spencer told Stockhead back in March that any resource above 100Mt and with between 500,000tpa and 700,000tpa spodumene production potential is somewhere within the Tier 1 mark.
Allkem managing director Martin Perez de Solay describes the project as being one of company’s largest spodumene lithium assets with clear potential for further growth.
The latter is due to the deposit in the NW Sector being open both along strike and at depth with the company preparing to carry out a significant campaign of infill and extensional drilling during the Canadian winter to test for along-strike and down-dip extensions of the pegmatite dykes beyond the area included in the resource estimate.
Meanwhile, the ranks of Australian junior explorers in the region will be increased by the addition of Lightning Minerals (ASX:L1M), which entered into a binding letter of intent to acquire two projects from Lithium Rabbit Quebec.
The 47km2 Dalmas and 32km2 Hiver projects both have historical reports of outcropping pegmatites mapped by the Quebec’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests.
Lightning Minerals intends to begin ground reconnaissance immediately following completion of the deal.
The resource developments really underscore the rich prospectivity of the James Bay region and highlight just why juniors are so keen to peg out exploration projects there.
Here are some companies operating in the space.
The company recently identified new prospective target areas within its Ross and Cancet West lithium projects following completion of a prospectivity analysis.
Fin’s new target areas encompass a number of lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites, leading it to stake an additional 44 claims covering both project areas.
Upcoming work will include continued in-depth review of historical datasets and mapped outcrops across the projects, remote sensing and geophysics as required, with interpretation in conjunction with the historic datasets, as well as planning for the upcoming field season.
Infinity Stone Ventures holds the Camaro Hellcat project in the region that is adjacent to PMT’s Corvette project.
It recently staked and acquired an additional 359 hectares of ground with historical surface samples that returned assays of up to 57 parts per million lithium, increasing its total land position up to 5,546 hectares.
The company plans to carry out further exploration to identify any other potential pegmatites and will also carry out a focused exploration program on the Hellcat claim block, alongside the initial prospecting program on the new claims, in the early spring.
Former Galaxy Resources managing director Iggy Tan’s foray back into lithium sees the Altech Batteries boss gather a team of fellow Galaxy alumni to drive exploration of the Apollo project.
The project is located between Corvette and the Winsome Resources (ASX:WR1) Adina project and shares the same target greenstone belt.
Lithium Universe is seeking a listing on the ASX through gaming company shell Mogul Games Group (ASX:MGG).
Oceana is a more recent entrant to James Bay, having only just picked up the 104km2 Monaro project in early June to complement its foundation assets in Brazil and the Northern Territory.
Monaro hosts 40km of contiguous greenstones that are known to host LCT pegmatite mineralisation and shares the same geological setting as Winsome’s Adina about 30km to the southeast.
Over 30 large linear targets with surface signs of pale outcrop, some up to 1.25km in length, have been identified from high resolution satellite imagery, some related to magnetic highs and lineaments while an additional 30 remote sensing targets within the project area have also been selected for priority investigation.
Recharge is poised to use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and high-resolution aerial imaging to survey previously identified mineralisation at four high-priority targets within its Express lithium project.
Previous photo interpretation targeting had revealed a significant area of outcrop within the project area, containing a substantial number of targets, which REC has interpreted as potentially representing outcropping lithium mineralisation.
Express is located about 12km southeast of the James Bay deposit and 15km east of Cygnus Metals’ Pontax project.
Also gearing up for exploration as wildfire restrictions lift is Resource Base which is preparing to carry out an on-ground program at its Wali and Ernst Lake projects where abundant pegmatites spanning distances of 1,600m have been identified.
The company has already generated several high priority targets which support known data on significant magnetic breaks, and previous known pegmatite occurrences from SIGEOM (the Quebec online mining information system).
Detailed sampling and mapping program will be undertaken to identify potential spodumene hosting pegmatites.
Another recent entrant to the James Bay region, Summit picked up the 118km2 Castor project that sits on the same greenstone belt as TSX-V listed companies Ophir Gold and Q2 Metals in mid July.
Castor covers two contiguous blocks within the northern end of the Yasinski Lake greenstone belt, where several pegmatite occurrences of unknown affinity are mapped within the 33km strike length.
While several bodies of pegmatite have been identified, the area lacks modern systematic exploration, which the company plans to address by initially carrying out prospecting, mapping and geochemical sampling to rapidly evaluate its prospectivity and generate drill targets.
At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Fin Resources, Infinity Stone Ventures, Lithium Universe, Ocean Lithium, Recharge Metals, Resource Base and Summit Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
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