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Writer's pictureMichael Philipps

James Bay the place to be for share price hikes

Updated: Mar 24


Loyal Lithium shares doubled after a pegmatite find in Canada. Credit: File

When it comes to mineral exploration, one of the undisputable key elements is good old real estate.


But it would have been impossible to predict that a ruggedly-beautiful bay that recorded its first human presence on the tail end of the world’s last ice age – some 8150 years ago – would one day become one of the fastest-growing global lithium hotspots.


That day is now at Canada’s picturesque James Bay in the province of Quebec, as two lithium-bearing pegmatite hunters proved last week with mighty ASX share price runs.


Loyal Lithium’s share price doubled to hit 98 cents after field work at its James Bay ground identified a cluster of lithium-bearing pegmatites. Reimagined explorer Lithium Universe, which just five months ago was trading as Mogul Games, re-listed on Monday at 2c and rocketed up 240 per cent to touch as high as 6.8c on Friday.


But back to James Bay and the steady industrial path trod through the location since the 1970s. That was when the Quebec government built hydroelectric dams on rivers that were combined to make up the James Bay project that has a total energy-generating capacity of more than 16,000 megawatts.


Some 50 years on and the region now appears to be on the cusp of a mining boom, concentrating on a commodity that is on a serious rise.


Loyal Lithium shook the ASX boards after it revealed the discovery of five spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes at its Trieste lithium project in James Bay. Management says its find marks the first occurrence along the Trieste Greenstone Belt outside of the known spodumene-bearing pegmatites of Winsome Resources’ Adina-Jamar discovery, located just 14km to the west.


Interestingly, the company notes that visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses, where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Visual estimates also potentially provide no information regarding impurities or deleterious physical properties relevant to valuations.


However, the five spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes have been identified within a 6-square-kilometre area to the south of the Trieste Greenstone Belt, with several high value greenstone targets yet to be explored. Loyal claims it is the biggest single landholder within the belt, with holdings of 251sq km.


The company’s preparation for drilling activities have kicked off with the existing in-field team from Dahrouge Geological Consulting (DGC) increasing to 19 field crew. The crew appears to be pretty relaxed about the latest discovery, based on images included in the latest ASX announcement.


Crew member on-site at Loyal Lithium’s Trieste project. Credit: Loyal Lithium

James Bay hosts several high-profile companies, including Patriot Battery Metals and Winsome Resources – which have both hit thick, shallow and high-grade coarse spodumene mineralisation during drilling.


Patriot’s Corvette deposit holds an inferred resource of 109.2 million tonnes at 1.42 per cent lithium oxide and 160 parts per million tantalum oxide. Drilling at the site has returned some impressive hits including 156m at 2.12 per cent lithium oxide.


Winsome has its Adina deposit about 20km east of Apollo, where it has returned best drill results of 107m grading 1.34 per cent lithium oxide from just 2.3m.


Lithium Universe exploded out of the share price blocks on Monday, after revealing plans to focus on an exploration mission of its own at James Bay with its Apollo lithium project. The site covers about 240sq km and includes 466 claims.


It is considered a greenfield project with limited historical exploration, but Quebec’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests has identified a total of 17 outcrops on the property as being predominantly pegmatite-hosted.


The company also recently announced plans to use artificial intelligence to collate imagery and data to assist its exploration strategy at Apollo.


Quebec was ranked eighth in terms of mining attractiveness earlier this year, according to the Fraser Institute’s annual survey of mining companies. However, the Northern Territory came in at sixth on the list and that’s where MetalsGrove Mining returned some impressive rare earths results from drilling at its Arunta project.


MetalsGrove pulled in grades of up to 7000ppm total rare earth oxides within multiple zones of mineralisation. The high-grade hits came from its Bruce prospect, north of Alice Springs.


And there may be more to come, with the company waiting on results after it recently completed drilling at its Edwards Creek prospect. MetalsGrove’s share price jumped nearly 73 per cent to hit a high of 19 cents last Monday.


While location can have a big influence on market interest, attracting the eyes of a global powerhouse will also almost always set tongues wagging.


That’s what happened to Orexplore Technologies after it signed a commercial agreement with mining giant BHP for its rock-scanning technology. The company’s share price leapt by more than 155 per cent last week to touch a high of 12c after the news of its $1.55 million deal with “The Big Australian” was revealed.


Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: office@bullsnbears.com.au



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