Patriot Battery Metals (TSXV: PMET) announced on Wednesday a new discovery at the Corvette lithium property in the James Bay region of Quebec, hitting about 100 metres of spodumene-bearing pegmatite at CV9.
The CV9 pegmatite is located about 14 kilometres west of the CV5 pegmatite, which hosts a mineral resource estimate of 109.2 million tonnes grading 1.42% lithium oxide.
“This is a very strong start to the drill exploration at the CV9 Pegmatite,” said Darren Smith, Patriot’s VP of exploration.
“Although no core assays have been received yet, the presence of spodumene and the length of pegmatite encountered in multiple holes, highlighted by an approximate 100-metre near-continuous spodumene-bearing hit in the final hole of the program, are very positive in terms of potential of this pegmatite to hold significant scale.”
A total of 18 drill holes, for approximately 4,000 metres, were completed over the summer and fall, which included the inaugural drill testing of the CV9 pegmatite, in addition to the continued drill delineation of the CV5 and CV13 pegmatites.
Core processing is continuing onsite with drilling temporarily paused for the onset of winter; drilling will resume in early January with a ramp up to 10 drill rigs, Patriot said.
The Corvette property ranks as the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas based on contained lithium carbonate equivalent, and is one of the 10 largest in the world.
Shares of Patriot Battery Metals rose 5% by 1:15 p.m. EDT. The company has a market capitalization of C$1.23 billion ($900 million).
