Eye on Lithium: Aussie lithium whetting appetites of some major international partners

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• Australia reliant on China to buy its spodumene, but that’s changing
• India wishes to look local, but still wants Australian lithium supply
• All the ASX lithium news from Gascoyne, Coolgardie, Mallina and hey-hey James Bay once again

All your lithium news, Tuesday, May 23. 

India is looking to diversify where it sources both the raw and refined materials to reduce dependence on China for its lithium supplies. 

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) reckons that its Rajasthan province contains more lithium reserves than first thought, claiming that 80% of total demand can be met from the underexplored region as opposed to reserves found in Jammu and Kashmir near the hotly contested Pakistan border.

Yet, as this column noted the other day, India is also turning to Australia for more lithium as part of its EV growth aspirations, making this next point more relevant for those of us at home. 

Here in Australia, we have our own dependency on China – as a customer. 

We mine about 53% of the world’s raw lithium supply at the moment, and that is on the increase. 

Yet at least 85% of that figure is exported to the Middle Kingdom, meaning our reliance on China’s willingness to buy our spod jeopardises our export volumes.

There are companies such as WA’s Pilbara Minerals looking at new ways to refine locally and export to other countries while cutting out China as the “middle man”, but it comes with challenges.

Australian workplace standards are some of the best in the world, paying workers premium incomes – while Chinese mining employees earn just a fraction of what those paid here do.

The good news is, a recent G7 summit highlighted bilateral cooperation on the critical minerals front to secure supply chains of lithium and other rare earths.

And one thing Australia does have going for it is a stable, robust mining sector. 

Having India, as the world’s most populous nation; and the US, one of the world’s largest consumers of critical minerals knocking on our door, the future for diversifying and increasing our lithium exports is looking mighty positive.

Here’s how lithium stocks are tracking:

31 lithium stocks are up, 66 were flat and 55 took a loss today.

WHO’S GOT NEWS OUT?

BMG Resources (ASX:BMG)

WA gold and lithium explorer BMG has completed its 20-hole RC drilling program and released some solid visual results from the Bullabulling project in the Coolgardie region of WA.

The company  has an option to acquire the project, located along strike from the multi-million ounce Bullabulling gold deposit, so it’s busy testing the ground before its option expires mid-June.

1,485m was drilled to test lithium targets at the Ubini, Red Panda and Purple Panda prospects, and a gold target at Poolmans.

Up at Purple Panda, BMG found an extensive Rb anomaly extends from Red Panda’s lithium occurrence and returned multiple intercepts of interpreted pegmatite as well as late stage felsic intrusive rocks.

A two-hole fence testing historic gold mineralisation at Poolmans returned about a 1.25m quartz vein in the interpreted lode location in 23BBRC019 from 53m with the hope that delineated gold mineralisation will be suitable for modern mining techniques.

“BMG’s first drilling program at the Bullabulling Project has shown early potential for gold and lithium discovery, with the Ubini and Purple Panda prospects emerging as early targets,” BMG boss Bruce McCracken said.

The news follows a maiden 518,000oz resource for its Abercromby project in April, delivered at a discovery cost of just $8.35 per ounce.

Assays from Bullabulling are due in the coming weeks and will help inform the company’s decision to acquire the project. 

Zeus Resources (ASX:ZEU) 

ZEU will dust off the binoculars once again after receiving work approval for Phase 1 drilling at its Mortimer Hills lithium project in WA’s Gascoyne region.

A huge bunch of pegmatites have been found in the project’s Pegmatite Creek prospect, so Zeus wants to drill 1,700m into the mapped pegmatites located along the strike from Delta Lithium’s Yinnetharra lithium project which surfaced 4.2% Li2O back in April.

RC drilling targets are within the Volta Corridor – a major lithium-bearing pegmatite belt which Delta is developing and growing right next door – and is planned for early June.

The explorer will carry out a surface geochemical sampling campaign during the drilling program  to better determine the drill hole locations.

A program of work for Phase 2 has already been lodged for an area even closer to Delta’s big find.

Golden State Mining (ASX:GSM)

Gold-lithium junior GSM has just acquired further exploration rights next door to its Nomad prospect – part of its Yule project – in the highly-prospective Mallina Basin which stars tier 1 celebrities such as De Grey Mining, Mineral Resources and Pilbara Minerals.

The company quickly raised $2 million to fund the acquisition and subsequent exploration work that includes heritage approvals and both AC and RC drilling pegged to start in July.

At Nomad, three AC and a follow up RC drill program has delineated a lithium, caesium and rubidium bedrock anomaly over a 2km strike length.

GSM is also targeting more lithium and gold drilling throughout the calendar year, with AC and RC drilling planned at Paynes Find in Q3 and several gold targets at Yule in the second half of this year – just 13km from De Grey’s ultra-massive Hemi gold discovery. 

“We have increased our ground position at Yule to around 766km2 in one of Australia’s premier mineral discovery provinces in the Mallina basin,” GSM MD Michael Moore said.

“Recent drilling has already revealed the interpreted signature of a potential lithium pegmatite system at the Nomad prospect. 

“This deal secures the remaining structural and targeting components for the Nomad model, which bears many analogies to the established Pilbara LCT pegmatite geological settings at Wodgina and Pilgangoora.”

Rubix Resources (ASX:RB6)

RB6 will purchase the Ceiling lithium project in the lithium-rich James Bay region of Quebec, Canada from renowned investor Tolga Kumova and vendor DG Resource Management.

A payment of $2.5m in cash and shares will be made for the project, with additional costs based on exploration performance.

The company has firm commitments to raise $1.96m to help pay for Ceiling and initial exploration at the project.  

“The acquisition of the Ceiling Lithium Project represents an enormous opportunity for Rubix shareholders in the world class lithium jurisdiction of James Bay,” RB6 exploration manager Casey Blundall said.

“We are very excited by the scale and potential of the project – over an impressive 25 km strike-length of the inferred Wemindji Greenstone Belt – and look forward to working with James Bay lithium experts DGRM, to getting on the ground immediately to conduct initial exploration activities with an aggressive goal of commencing a maiden drill program later this year.”

James Bay continues to emerge as one of the world’s best new lithium districts, with world-class discoveries all over the region by players such as Allkem (ASX:AKE), Nemaska Lithium (TSX:NMX) and Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT).

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Golden State Mining is a Stockhead advertiser, they did not sponsor this article.

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