Recently, Discovery Lithium Inc. has made a landmark acquisition in northern Québec. The district-scale properties cover 1,643 km2 of pristine ground with the highest percentile lithium samples in lake bottom sediments as identified in Québec‘s government database. The data indicate higher lithium concentrations and better distribution well beyond the James Bay Lithium District further south in Québec, where Patriot Battery Metals Inc. made North America‘s largest lithium pegmatite discovery at its Corvette Property. The company, now valued at $1.1 billion and trading near $10 per share, acquired Corvette in late 2017, when it was named 92 Resources Corp. The discovery was made in 2018 (see here and here), however during a time when market sentiment for lithium was not as good as these days, for which reason it was not until last year that Patriot Battery Metals‘ share price started to skyrocket.

Based on Patriot Battery Metals‘ recent success, an unprecedented number of junior exploration companies is rushing into the James Bay Lithium District, including Discovery Lithium with its most recent acquisition of the large Route Du North Project (~60 km2) close to infrastructure and advanced lithium projects. With Discovery Lithium having also acquired large property packages in northern and eastern Québec, the company is primarily looking for the next lithium district in under-explored regions.

 

The search began with a study of Québec‘s government database showing historic lithium concentrations in lake bottom sediments accross the province. The idea is that over long periods of weathering and erosion, particles of lithium-bearing spodumene pegmatites break down and move into rivers and finally accumulate at the bottom of lakes. The more lithium in these lake sediments, the higher the chances that lithium-rich pegmatites are somewhere near-by. Discovery Lithium has acquired large land packages around lakes with the highest lithium accumulations to then find the source.