Carnage in Canada’s EV mineral space The carnage in Canada’s EV mineral space over the summer has been unbelievable, but it’s of interest to look at what’s left standing at this point in anticipation of a post-labour day rebound. Chart below compares the three largest Canadian lithium deposits that are controlled by publicly traded companies and that are not currently constrained by offtake agreements and consequently are likely getting the attention of the mining majors, battery manufacturers and OEMs. Critical Minerals is farthest along, with a mining permit issued, but no funding lined up yet, whereas Patriot’s Corvette deposit is the least developed. On a market valuation/kg Li basis however, Frontier is highly undervalued compared to the other two. What’s more, Frontier’s current reserves don’t include anything from the Bolt pegmatite or the Spark northwest extension. Drilling results just released from the Bolt pegmatite suggest it easily has potential to host 10 mmt and probably several times that. With ongoing channel sampling of the extensive Bolt outcroppings this summer, they should have a good idea it’s potential sometime later this fall. But the real wild card for Frontier is the Spark northwest extension, The last two drill holes advanced into the northwest extension last October, were two of the best lithium boreholes ever drilled world-wide. They then drilled three more holes into the extension in February followed by a fourth deeper hole in July. They undoubtedly have assay results from the February holes, but have yet to release these. I’m guessing we’ll be hearing about these mystery holes shortly and if favourable, to be followed by a fall drilling program targeting the northwest extension.
| | Critical Minerals . Rose deposit | Frontier . Pak deposit | Patriot Cheviot deposit |
| Ore deposit1 (mmt) | 26 | 59 | 109 |
| Grade (% LiOH2) | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.4 |
| Kg Li | 234 mm | 885 mm | 1526 mm |
| | | + Bolt (10-30 mmt? @ 0.9% | |
| | | + Spark NW extension; 398m@ 1.9% and 243m@1.6% | |
| Market cap (mm$) | 301 | 308 | 1265 |
| Market cap/kg Li | 1.3 | 0.34 | 0.82 |
1) includes measured, indicated and inferred resources