Canada Lithium shares halted for a mineral resource estimate do-over

Canada Lithium said today it will have to take another look at a resource estimate it used to fund a Can$202-million open pit mine in Quebec.

The company said that it was unable to reconcile its own results with a previously announced 43-101-compliant report dated Oct. 28, 2010.

In January the company raised Can$110 million via a bought-deal financing.

Canadian Press says the company’s shares, which trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, were halted an hour before the end of official trading on Monday.

“The independent evaluation has been initiated following an internal review that indicated a material reduction in the measured, indicated and inferred mineral resources incorporated in the 43-101-compliant report announced Oct. 28, 2010,” the company said in a news release.

“The company was unable to reconcile the results of the internal review, which incorporated various resource estimation methodologies, with the reported 43-101 resources announced in October 2010. Michelle Stone, Ph.D., P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, was the author of the 43-101 report.”

To undertake the preliminary independent review, Canada Lithium said it had appointed Roscoe Postle and Associates Inc. The review should take two weeks.

“In October 2010, Canada Lithium reported measured and indicated mineral resources of 46 million tonnes grading 1.19% Li2O (at a 0.8% Li2O cut-off), plus an inferred mineral resource of 57 million tonnes grading 1.18% Li2O. This resource was used to develop a mine plan with a schedule to process one million tonnes of ore per year over an initial mine life of 14.8 years,” stated the company in its news release.

Michael Allan McCrae wrote this story. You can contact him at [email protected].