Germany’s Chancellor plans lithium deal with Serbia after Rio ruling
Olaf Scholz plans to visit Serbia this week to secure supplies of lithium that are critical for the nation’s energy transition and auto industry.
Patriot Battery Metals’ (TSXV: PMET; ASX: PMT) shares jumped Monday on new drill results the company says extend the strike length at its Corvette property in northern Quebec.
Four holes at the site about 300 km east of James Bay lengthen the strike Patriot calls CV5 by 400 metres from 2.2 km along a 4.3-km trend of spodumene pegmatite it discovered in 2017, the company said in a news release on Monday.
The drilling cut near-continuous spodumene-bearing pegmatite intersections from the main body ranging from 54 metres to 132 metres in core length in the high-grade Nova zone, Patriot said, adding the holes were spaced about 50 to 100 metres apart and the deposit remains open along strike at both ends and to depth along most of its length.
“We are off to a great start with drilling at the CV5 pegmatite this year,” Patriot CEO Blair Way said in the release. “We will continue to advance aggressively as we look ahead to an initial mineral resource estimate targeted for the first half of 2023.”
Patriot said the drill campaign’s main goals are to further define the CV5 pegmatite and improve the geological model for an indicated mineral resource. It plans to continue stepping out the Nova zone along strike eastwardly towards the CV4 pegmatite cluster, which is now about 2 km from the easternmost drill hole.
It will drill to the west of hole CV22-074 which cut 16.9 metres grading 2% lithium oxide (Li2O). Patriot will also probe how the CV5 pegmatite might extend towards the CV13 pegmatite cluster about 4.3 km to the west-southwest.
Last month, Patriot reported CV5’s strongest intervals to date with 52.2 metres of 3.34% Li2O from 219.1 metres, including 15 metres at 5.1% Li2O from drill hole CV22-093. The company also reported 131.2 metres at 1.96% Li2O from 250.8 metres, including 57 metres at 2.97% Li2O in hole CV22-100. And on Jan. 18 it reported 156.9 metres grading 2.1% Li2O in drill hole CV22-083. It included 25 metres at 5.04% Li2O and 5 metres at 6.36% Li2O.
By the end of January, Patriot had drilled eight holes for a total of about 3,400 metres as part of a January to April program targeting 20,000 metres, it said. Patriot said it is using four rigs earlier than expected in what it touts as the province’s largest winter season lithium drilling. Core assays are still pending, it said.
Demand for lithium continues to remain high as automakers attempt to lock in supplies for electric vehicle batteries. The price of 99.2% lithium carbonate was $71,050 on Monday compared with $54,725 a year ago, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Shares in Patriot Battery Metals rose just over 7% to C$17.35 on Monday afternoon in Toronto, valuing the company at C$1.8 billion ($1.3bn).
