Riversgold is no stranger to lithium exploration. Pic via Getty Images.
Riversgold’s new James Bay acquisition is nestled between a couple of advanced, +$350m capped TSXV lithium plays
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- Riversgold continues to add to its lithium portfolio, this time in Canada’s James Bay
- Exploration at Abigail will begin in September
- The company’s strategy is to identify lithium-rich pegmatites similar to other large nearby deposits
Riversgold has struck a deal to snap up a project in the prolific James Bay lithium district in Quebec.
The Abigail lithium project is sprawled between TSXV-listed, C$330m capped Critical Element’s Rose and Nemaska’s Whabouchi deposits, which have reserves of 26.3Mt @ 0.87% Li2O and 36.6Mt @ 1.3% Li2O respectively.
The project comprises 602 staked claims in seven blocks for a total area of 312 km2 and include the West, T22, T4, East, Star, South and Southeast projects.
The explorer will pay C$75,000 cash, spend C$200,000 on exploration activities and issue 16.4 million Riversgold (ASX:RGL) shares at 1.4c per share to acquire 100% of vendor Abigail Lake.
Upon completion of the due diligence, a further C$75,000 and an issue of 73.8 million Riversgold shares at 1.4c per share and a 2% net smelter on all minerals from the projects will be paid.
“The Abigail lithium project in Quebec is blessed with year-round access for exploration and the current exploration program, planned to commence in two weeks, will be managed by the same exploration team who identified the project’s potential lithium anomalies back in 2016/17,” RGL chair David Lenigas says.
Strategy
Riversgold said its strategy for Abigail is to identify potential lithium-rich pegmatites located in granites – like the Rose lithium deposit – or potential lithium-rich pegmatites within greenstones such as at the Whabouchi deposit.
Nearby TSXV explorer Li-FT Power (LIFT), Riversgold points out, has used this strategy to successfully uncover targets.
The C$320m capped Canadian stock is currently drilling its Rupert A and B prospects, which are smack bang in the middle of RGL’s proposed tenure package.
In June, Li-FT reported it intersected wide pegmatites consistent with historical reporting at Rupert A and B by past explorers. Standout drill hits comprised 60m @ 1.26% lithium including 39m @ 1.38% and 26m @ 1.22% including 23m @ 1.37%. Li-FT began drilling in April and recently extended its plans under the same consultants that Riversgold are engaged with.
Meanwhile, back on Riversgold’s portfolio, the two areas which make up the majority of the Abigail lithium project are accessible via road.
Abigail has only been sparsely explored, with Evolving Gold Corp undertaking mapping and till sampling between 2016-2017.
RGL’s due diligence exploration program will kick off in September to verify previously identified anomalies and depending on the results, will undertake a more comprehensive greenfields generation program early next year.
A proven explorer
Riversgold is no stranger to lithium exploration. Drilling is ongoing at its Mt Holland project, adjacent to the globally significant project of the same name being developed by Covalent Lithium in a JV with Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) and SQM.
Sediment sampling and analysis is under way after completing a 21-hole RC drilling campaign at its Tambourah lithium project.
The explorer also has project drilling under way at its Mt Weld rare earths project and recently completed diamond drilling of the Northern Zone gold project in the WA Goldfields, which has an exploration target of 2.5-4.8Moz Au.
This article was developed in collaboration with Riversgold, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
