Interesting read popped up in my Mining News Feed this morning. Great exposure for WR1
Because hard rock lithium is still a fledgling industry in North America, and there have been some notable failures, including North American Lithium (now owned by Sayona Mining), and Namaska Lithium (now owned by Investissement Quebec and The Pallinghurst Group), Australians are seeing plenty of opportunities and interest to utilise their hard-won skills, according to Winsome Resources managing director Chris Evans.
"Canadians have been a little bit wary of lithium, but given the activity in WA over the years, we're able to inject a little enthusiasm and kickstart the industry over there with the expertise from building mines," Evans said.
Evans has experience, having been the chief operating officer during the development of Altura Mining's Pilgangoora plant (now part of Pilbara Minerals).
While every deposit is different, the Canadian pegmatites are broadly the same as those in WA, so if Winsome does get into development, he expects his experiences in mining and processing will be invaluable.
And Canada doesn't feel that alien, Evans told MNN.
He's spent about three months in North America over the first half of the year, including at the world-famous PDAC conference, and found nothing but support - and interest.
"Quebec is a mining province, so mining and exploration are nothing new there," he said.
"There are some different rules, but there are well trodden paths, and it's a more friendly regulatory environment.
"The governments are more involved with EV projects at the provincial and federal levels, and there are exploration rebates like the flow-through share scheme that really support exploration.
"It is differently structured. In winter you can still rill, but there are some aspects of field work that you can't do because the ground is covered with snow."
Evans' involvement with Winsome came when the company was being put together, and he was asked to evaluate MetalsTech's Cancet, Adina and Sirmac-Clappier lithium projects in the James Bay region.
He was impressed.
"I think we are in a pretty unique position. We know there is lithium in Quebec, and we know it's high-grade, so we're not at an early stage, but as an investment proposition we're earlier in the cycle than some," Evans said.
Winsome completed its IPO in November, raising A$18 million at 20c, but was offered well over $80 million.
"We couldn't have picked a better time to hit the market, and it's still pretty hot, so most of that money is still there if we want it, but we still have $13 million in the bank, so we don't need money for our current activities," he said.
Those activities are the usual mix of field work, drilling, metallurgical tests and acquiring ground, and on all fronts the company appears to be making steady progress, as it aims to transition into production.
Evans said there were plenty of parties looking to develop lithium chemical conversion facilities in North America and Europe, and Winsome was well places to deliver spodumene concentrate to fill those plants.
Winsome has already had interest from China, but Evans does not want to get into the offtake space too early.
"Our metallurgical lab, which has done work for both Sayona and Piedmont Lithium, says it's never seen recoveries as high as ours, so that points to being able to use dense media separation alone," Evans said.
Plenty of plants in WA have used a mix of DMS, grinding, and flotation.
It's that last step they've hit commissioning issues, but the Cancet pegmatite contains coarse grained spodumene, suggesting a simple processing solution.
In the field, Winsome continues to map new pegmatites, and wants to back that up with drilling to allow resources for both Cancet and Adina next year.
The drilling at Cancel would be extensional. Its winter drilling helped double main Cancet dyke to over 1200m, and surface sampling has recovered up to 5.6% lithium. Higher grades are in the east, where the orebody remains open.
Cancet has an exploration target of 15-25Mt grading 1-2%.
Winsome has commenced surface stripping, mapping, and channel sampling of the main dyke at Cancet.
It will use a helicopter portable RC rig, which Evans said was unusual for Canada, but will be cheaper and faster to use than a diamond rig.
At Adina, Evans said the previous work was "done on the fly" within weeks and didn't have the opportunity to drill the most obvious places.
Evans said much of Canada was not explored for lithium, so there was plenty of opportunity, although he felt between the areas Winsome secured from MetalsTech, and its own new claims in the Decelles region it probably had enough early-stage ground.
In recent days, it has also mapped new outcropping pegmatites at Adina, apparently unconnected to previously sampled dykes that are 1km away, which will go into the mix as drilling targets are generated.
Drilling is expected to begin as early as next month.
Winsome shares have traded at 17.5-57c over the past year and were last traded at 27c, valuing it at $39 million.
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