{kanada_flagge}Numerous countries around the world have decided to phase out the production of cars with internal combustion engines by the end of the decade, and California, the US state that is one of the ten largest automotive markets in the world, has already set the goal of electric vehicles accounting for 100% of car sales by 2035. Accordingly, demand for electric vehicles has risen very sharply in recent years – and with it the need for lithium, probably the best-known battery metal.
{kanada_flagge}Numerous countries around the world have decided to phase out the production of cars with internal combustion engines by the end of the decade, and California, the US state that is one of the ten largest automotive markets in the world, has already set the goal of electric vehicles accounting for 100% of car sales by 2035. Accordingly, demand for electric vehicles has risen very sharply in recent years – and with it the need for lithium, probably the best-known battery metal.
As a result, after an explosive rise of around 442% in 2021, lithium prices increased by another 72.5% in 2022! And experts believe that electric vehicle sales, and thus lithium demand, will continue to rise steadily in 2023 and beyond, albeit perhaps at a slightly slower pace than before. Many experts also expect more lithium to hit the market in the foreseeable future. But industry expert Chris Berry, for example, expects lithium demand to grow 20% per year in the years to 2030, so large amounts of new lithium supply are likely to continue to be needed. Especially since, for example, great efforts are being made in the U.S. to reduce dependence on foreign (Chinese) sources of battery metals – keyword here: Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The environment for lithium companies and especially also lithium explorers should therefore remain positive for the foreseeable future and open up opportunities for companies and investors. In our view, a particularly exciting speculation in the lithium sector, albeit still risky given the early stage of development, is Canada’s Global Battery Metals (WKN A2PF4J / TSXV GBML). Among other things, because the company has several promising lithium projects, some of which are expected to deliver important news in the coming days and weeks, already!
And the management team of Global Battery Metals acquired these projects before the recent increase in demand for critical minerals in the wake of the energy transition. This means low entry costs with high performance potential, the company emphasizes.
Lithium in Ireland: Sample results continue
The focus of Global Battery Metals is mainly on its two most promising projects, which definitely include the North West Leinster lithium property in Ireland! This is a lithium hard rock project with spodumene-bearing pegmatite.
The project area comprises 16 claims near the Avalonia asset of Chinese lithium giant Ganfeng. The latter has already reported the discovery of lithium spodumene-bearing pegmatites with economic grades.
Global Battery Metals itself, had completed a geochemical characterization survey in 2022 on the Knockeen – Carriglead target area, part of NW Leinster, which the company believes may be the source of previously reported surface samples that yielded between 0.70% and 2.95% Li2O. Global Battery Metals had first reported this possible discovery in early December.
Today, the Company announced that high grade lithium assays were returned, with surface samples up to 3.75% Li2O From NW Leinster Lithium Project. Of the 66 total surface samples analyzed, assay results show that 47 returned grades above 1% Li2O – with grades as high as 3.75% and 3.63% (ALS Laboratories, Loughrea, Ireland).
Knockeen and Carriglead Prospects are reported at:
• Knockeen: Out of a total of 56 samples, 41 samples graded above 1% Li2O, of which 20 graded above 2% Li2O and of which 2 graded above 3% Li2O (Sample AES 63003 – 3.63% Li2O) and (Sample AES 63033 – 3.75% Li2O)
• Carriglead: out of a total of 10 samples, 6 samples graded above 1% Li2O, of which 1 sample analysed above 2% Li2O (sample AES63504 – 2.09% Li2O)
Additional deep overburden results of these analyses, mainly from samples taken from Knockeen – Carriglead, will now be received at the end of January, Global Battery Metals recently confirmed!
Currently, two geologists experienced in lithium pegmatite mapping are conducting reconnaissance and mapping on the target areas of
– Aghavannagh,
– Knockanaboley,
– Scurlocks,
– Sorrell and
– Tonygarrow/Glencullen.
This is estimated to take four to six days per area. Once this work is completed, the company says, a drilling program will begin.
Drill-ready lithium brine project in Utah
While NW Leinster is a hard rock project, the Company’s Lithium King project in Utah is an advanced stage lithium brine project in the Pivot Valley, located 170 kilometers west of Salt Lake City on the western edge of the Bonneville salt desert.
The property is also located at the southern end of a trend of high lithium water sources and lithium is believed to move with fluids along faults in the bedrock forming a graben structure. Historical surface water sampling by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) collected on the property between 1972 and 1993 yielded lithium grades ranging from 2 to 1,200 ppm Li2O.
Global Battery Metals plans to begin drilling in Utah in the first quarter of this year, with the necessary permits in place to study stratigraphy, brine composition and potential production metrics. Water recovered from the drilling will then be tested for both lithium content and potential contaminants. In addition, the Company plans to acquire further geophysical data to estimate foundation depth, water content and brine depth in the basin.
Once drilling is complete and assay results are available, Global Battery Metals plans to provide a resource estimate that complies with Canadian NI 43-101 standards. (It is an advantage of lithium brine projects that they require significantly less drilling than hard rock projects to reach this stage).
Early stage project in Newfoundland
Global Battery Metals has another hard rock lithium project called La Poile in Newfoundland, located near Sokoman’s Golden Hope project. Sokoman discovered a swarm of pegmatites at Golden Hope last year that showed significantly elevated Li2O grades.
Global Battery Metals also discovered pegmatites at La Poile, but the initial samples collected did not contain lithium. However, the team plans to conduct a more comprehensive Phase II sampling program this spring, believing that recent results may help provide clues to lithologies hosting lithium mineralization in other licensed areas.
Conclusion: Global Battery Metals (WKN A2PF4J / TSXV GBML) is in our view in an excellent position to benefit from the still very positive lithium market environment. The company has, as we believe, promising projects, whose value – in case of success – could be increased comparatively quickly by further exploration activities. With NW Leinster, the company also has a hard rock lithium project and thus the variant of lithium projects that is currently more in demand with investors (successful examples here are Li-FT Power and Patriot Battery Metals), while with Lithium King, the company has a brine project, which in turn can be brought to an initial resource estimate with less drilling effort. With La Poile, the company also has a kind of wild card up its sleeve, which may be good for a positive surprise.
In any case, the coming weeks should be very exciting for Global Battery. The further analysis results on NW Leinster announced for the end of this month could provide a boost if successful, and news on a drilling start there or in Utah could also move the share price. While this has recovered somewhat since late November 2022, it is still a long way from the high of $0.29 CAD reached in April of last year. Currently, Global Battery Metals has a market capitalization of little more than CAD 9 million. As a junior explorer, the company is definitely a risky speculation, but we also see good chances for a positive development in the current year. We’ll stay tuned!
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