Canada Unearthed: The forgotten lithium province where colossal pegmatites are visible from space

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• Canaccord Genuity’s Reg Spencer says the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province (YPP) is starting to pop up on investor radars
• Numerous spodumene-bearing pegmatites up to 1800m long and 40m wide outcrop “in a spectacular fashion”
• First movers into the YPP: Midas Minerals and Loyal Lithium (ASX), Li-FT Power, Patriot Battery Metals, ION Energy, North Arrow Minerals, Gama Explorations, Far Resources (TSXV)

Our Canada Unearthed column wraps the news driving mining and exploration stocks listed in Canada, mostly on the TSX and TSX.V.

‘First mover’ exploration companies have several advantages when it comes to setting up shop in an emerging mineral province.

Most importantly, unlike the latecomers, they have their pick of the most prospective looking ground.

With James Bay in Canada now packed tighter than a sardine can, it may be time for lithium explorers to look further afield.

Canaccord Genuity head of research Reg Spencer says there is another emerging region in Canada which is only just starting to pop up on investors’ radars.

“That is the Northwest Territories, specifically around the city of Yellowknife,” Spencer says.

“There’s a Canadian company called Li-FT Power (TSXV:LIFT) that seems to be doing some good things up there, and looks like they may have made a new discovery based on recent drilling results.

“… there’s [also] a couple of little Aussie companies that are close to where Li-FT are operating in Midas Minerals (ASX:MM1) and Loyal Lithium (ASX:LLI), which are worth watching as well.”

Other companies with recently acquired ground in the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province (YPP) include Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT,TSXV:PMET) via its JV with LLI,  ION Energy (TSXV:ION), North Arrow Minerals (TSXV:NAR), Gama Explorations (TSXV:GAMA) and Far Resources (TSXV:FAT).

Yellowknife: A Forgotten Peggie Province

Hard rock lithium was first discovered in the YPP in the 1940s and intermittently explored through to the 1980s, LIFT says.

In the 1970s, Superior Oil’s exploration arm estimated an overall resource potential for the YPP of 49Mt at 1.40% lithium, calculated to a vertical depth of 152m.

Superior Oil was acquired by Mobil in 1984, which led to the divestment of this ground.

The ground covering the largest of the lithium pegmatites were transferred to a private company who, in 1985 entered into an option agreement with Equinox Resources who collected bulk samples in 1987 for initial metallurgical testing.

The results from initial metallurgical testing were positive and Equinox recommended a full feasibility study, calling it “one of the largest lithium resources in the Western world”.

But history repeated itself. Equinox was acquired and the YPP lithium deposits reverted to the private company.

Between 1987 and December last year — when LIFT acquired the ground in an all-scrip deal valued at ~CAD$155m — very little exploration work was completed on any of the pegmatites.

Numerous spodumene-bearing pegmatites up to 1800m long and 40m wide outcrop “in a spectacular fashion” within the project, LIFT says, and are plainly visible from satellite imagery.

The project has potential to be one of the largest hard rock lithium resources in North America, LIFT CEO Francis MacDonald says.

“The project was held privately for 35 years without having any exploration work completed at a time when lithium was not an exciting commodity,” he says.

“We look forward to completing an aggressive drill program to delineate the subsurface extent of the abundant lithium mineralisation we see at surface.”

The company bolstered its landholding in the region with another acquisition before embarking on a 45,000m drill blitz in early June, targeting seven outcropping spodumene-bearing pegmatite dyke complexes.

Early indications from eyeballing the drill core at the Fi Southwest prospect are that historical exploration work was on the money.

“The presence of spodumene within the Fi Southwest dyke over drill intersects of 33-80m suggests that the historic work was accurate and that the lithium pegmatite dykes have similar widths at depth to outcrops on surface,” MacDonald says.

“We look forward to initial assay results and continued diamond drilling that will extend the known pegmatite occurrences to depth.”

Those all-important assays are due soon. The whole region will benefit if they live up to the hype.

TSX and TSX.V Winners & Losers

Here’s how TSX and TSX.V-listed mining and exploration stocks performed last week:

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort. Best viewed on a laptop.

Stocks missing from this list? Email [email protected]