{kanada_flagge}The Canadian government announced Monday that it has approved Australian-Canadian group Allkem’s (ASX: AKE) James Bay lithium project in Quebec. The proposed James Bay Lithium Mine is located approximately 100 kilometers east of James Bay and the Eastmain Cree Community in Quebec. In close proximity to the permitted mine is the Lithium381 project of Genius Metals Inc (TSXV: GENI; FRA: 0FU) and Clarity Metals Corp (CSE: CMET, OTC: CLGCF, FSE: 27G), which the two partners plan to explore in a 50/50 joint venture.
{kanada_flagge}The Canadian government announced Monday that it has approved Australian-Canadian group Allkem’s (ASX: AKE) James Bay lithium project in Quebec. The proposed James Bay Lithium Mine is located approximately 100 kilometers east of James Bay and the Eastmain Cree Community in Quebec. In close proximity to the permitted mine is the Lithium381 project of Genius Metals Inc (TSXV: GENI; FRA: 0FU) and Clarity Metals Corp (CSE: CMET, OTC: CLGCF, FSE: 27G), which the two partners plan to explore in a 50/50 joint venture.
Recent resistivity measurements on Lithium381 show a 1.5 km EW-trending zone with relatively high values possibly corresponding to granitic pegmatite bodies at relatively shallow depths. Allkem had a similar IP survey 800 m to the southwest on his property as recently as 2021. (see Figure 1). Genius acknowledges, however, that the data are difficult to compare because, unlike Allkem, there are no outcrops of spodumene-granite pegmatite dykes on the Genius/Clarity property. Guy Goulet, CEO of Genius Metals, stated, “Genius Metals and Clarity Metals are eagerly awaiting the full interpreted data from the IP survey, which will be supplemented by a MAG survey, Synthetic Aperture Radar (“SAR”) and Sentinel and Aster multi-spectral data surveys. The preliminary assessment of the IP survey shows a clear resistivity target that will guide our future exploration efforts on the project.”
Figure 1: Preliminary resistivity survey results from the Lithium381 project and Allkem Limited’s 2008 IP resistivity survey in the area of the proposed open pit.
Allkem’s proposed spodumene project would include an open pit mine and concentration plant, overburden, waste, ore and tailings storage areas, and associated infrastructure. It is expected to produce an average of 5,480 tonnes of ore per day over a mine life of 15 to 20 years.
Canadian Minister of Mines Jonathan Wilkinson called the approval an “important decision for Canada.” He said the James Bay lithium mine project will provide an important component of clean technologies such as batteries for electric vehicles and solar panels. The Canadian government had recently announced its Critical Minerals Strategy, which lists lithium as one of the top six critical minerals due to its importance to the clean technology sector, particularly in the production of rechargeable batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles.
The bottom line is that Canada has a huge amount of catching up to do with Australia when it comes to lithium production. Australia overtook former leader Chile in 2017 and has been the undisputed global market leader ever since, while Canada – all fine words notwithstanding – has yet to boast a single producing lithium mine. Allkem’s project, but also Critical Elements Lithium Corporation’s (TSXV: CRE) Rose project, are expected to be the first Canadian lithium projects ever to come into production in the next two years. The pent-up demand remains huge, which is why companies like Patriot Battery Metals and Lift-Power are already waiting in the wings with next-generation projects. Interestingly, both Patriot and Osisko are among the neighbors of the newly permitted Allkem mine. Genius Metals and Clarity could also benefit massively from the upcoming development of the Allkem mine if their recent geophysical discovery does indeed prove to be a lithium-bearing pegmatite body. We’ll stay tuned to the story.
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