So it would seem after properly researching the issue , there are good reasons why in hindsight of Sayona's Moblan deal that they would have gone on the front foot in obtaining and mopping up 100% of ALL the prospective surrounding Tansim and Lac Simard CDC claims......and NOT let it go down the same path as what had potentially occurred and evolved with respects to the NAL project and fragmented surrounding tenement holdings.
And as it turns out , and which can be seen in the attached latest wording from Troilus Gold Corps website ( see attached excerpt wording and Maps ) is that this area of this Frotet -Evans Greenstone Belt where Moblan also resides is indeed considered by Troilus Gold to be BOTH low risk and also underexplored.
So obviously you can see by the attached Maps that indeed Moblan's structure is virtually and completely surrounded by other Tenements which TODAY would seem to be at least held ' in part ' by TWO different Mining Entities. The first being the Osisko Inc which was spoken about in the July 2019 EIS further requirements , and Troilus Gold Corp who also has significant ground including what appears to be 50% which it may have inherited from its recent acquisition of UrbanGold Minerals in March 2021 as stated in an announcement at that time as follows :-
Following this announcement in April , they then endeavored to strike a deal for what would appear to be their 50% interest in these TOTAL Moblan surrounding tenements package with the below mentioned Hinterland Metals Inc as follows :-
VAL D'OR, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - July 12, 2016) -Hinterland Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:HMI) ("Hinterland") is pleased to announce that it has signed a Letter of Intent ("LOI") with Beaufield Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:BFD) ("Beaufield"), whereby Hinterland may earn an interest in the "Lithium Rights", defined as all elements, metals and minerals excluding precious metals (i.e., gold, silver, platinum and palladium), and base-metals (i.e., cobalt, copper, lead, nickel and zinc), attached to Beaufield's 92-claim (4441-hectare) Troilus property (the "Property") located in the Frotet-Evans area of Quebec, approximately 100 kilometres north of Chibougamau. An all-season gravel road starting from Chibougamau passes through the western part of the Property.
The Troilus claims completely surround the Moblan lithium development project held by Perilya Ltd. (60%) and Soquem Inc. (40%). A mineral resource estimate of the Moblan deposit was reported in May 2011 with a 0.60% Li2O cut-off grade as summarized in the following table (Perilya website consulted July 11, 2016):
Although documented lithium mineralization is present on the Moblan project in several zones immediately adjacent to the boundary with the surrounding Troilus property, very little previous exploration work has been completed on the Troilus claims. Hinterland plans to commence work immediately with a compilation of available geological data and generation of lithium exploration targets. A map of the Property can be viewed at
Pursuant to the LOI, Hinterland can earn a 50% interest in the Lithium Rights by issuing to Beaufield an aggregate of 2,000,000 shares (500,000 upon closing) and completing work expenditures of $1,000,000 ($200,000 in the first year) over a three year period. Upon completion of the 50% earn-in, Hinterland and Beaufield will form a joint venture with initial respective participating interests to be 50%. The transaction is subject to completion of due diligence, final documentation and approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
So as it turns out , the 50% deal with Hinterland was never consummated. Following the failure of this proposed 50% deal in July 2016 , a subsidiary of the Osisko mining group ( who is named in the Q&A EIS feedback by the Quebec Government re: Moblan )took a further 16.4% stake in Beaufield in February 2017 after grabbing its first 10% one month earlier in January 2017. What followed after this was a FULL takeover at a 54% premium of the remaining shares that the Osisko subsidiary didn't already own in Beaufield Resources in August 2018.
So it becomes BOTH unclear but also interesting as to what happens from here because once the takeover of Beaufield Resources with its Moblan ( Troilus ) surrounding tenements holding package is completed , their Head Geologist and VP Exploration 2008 to 2018 or almost the beginning in 2005 appointed Vice President , Exploration of UrbanGold Minerals Inc in January 2019 and then becomes its CEO on 25th March 2021 .....2 days after Troilus enters into an agreement to acquire UrbanGold in an ALL stock offer.
Troilus Gold Corp then completes its acquisition of UrbanGold Minerals on 18th May 2021 with its delisting commencing shortly thereafter from around 21st May 2021.
Of course prior to this , Troilus Gold Corp was ' spawned ' from the reverse takeover by Pitchback Resources Ltd of the Pitchback ' option ' from Sulliden Mining Capital Inc to buy the Troilus Gold project area which was finalised in Dec 20th 2017 and which resulted in the new entity named Troilus Gold Corp.
The somewhat complex interconnectivity from there becomes even more interesting in that the subsidiary of Osisko mining group ( O3 mining ) because in April 2020 , O3 Mining increased it's holding of 300,000 shares in Troilus by 1.7 million to 2 million shares or 2.2% of Troilus together with a 2% net smelter royalty which 1% can be bought back by Troilus for $1 million for exchange of its 627 claims of its Tortigny GOLD ( and Copper property ) in Quebec , and which is ALL part of the same surrounding nearology to Moblan.
So coming back to the Maps then , and the comments made in the EIS Q&A in July 2019 , is that whilst it is somewhat difficult to follow the trail of ownership of the surrounding Moblan tenements package - and with Particular emphasis to the ' Western ' boundary which was referenced to Osisko Mining having ALL rights to minerals , it does look as though somehow Troilus has acquired 50% through its acquisitions of BOTH UrbanGold Cop with perhaps Osisko still holding its original 50% it acquired through its subsidiary O3 mining having acquired Beaufield Resources.....and then ' backing in ' this package to Troilus who now appears to hold the lot. Not sure how Noranda fits into it all with its 50% suffice to say that perhaps Beaufield earned the remaining 50% before Osisko Mining ( O3 mining ) made its play in 2018. Or maybe Noranda still has 50% of some of this surrounding Moblan ground.
But it doesn't even end here folks. It gets even more interesting when you look into the Financial Investment side , the resurrection of , and the backing from Quebec which has come for Osisko Mining .
Most people would know Osisko Mining which is currently capped at around C$1.11 B and up over 20% in the last month as being the founder and developer of Canada's Largest Gold Mine ' Malartic Mine ' back in 2011 which is located north east of Moblan on what's called the Pontiac group of metasedimentary rocks within the Abitibi volcanic belt which include the Cadillac Group or Cadillac- Larder Lake deformation zones and which is near the town of Malartic.
This Low grade HUGE tonnage Archaean lode gold project was then acquired and bought out when Osisko Mining was taken over in 2014 by Agnico Eagle and Yamana Gold after trumping GoldCorps C$2.6 billion offer and which is now owned 50 / 50 between these two. So after Osisko received a ' Friendly ' counter offer from Eagle and Yamana for C$4.3 billion in June 2014 , the royalties package including the Gold smelting royalties for Malartic were spun out into a new company called Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd.
But what's interesting is that a Company by the name of Oban Mining Corporation which was founded in 2010 and was reformed by reverse merger in 2014 of the South American mineral exploration company Braeval Mining Corporation and Oban Exploration Limited .....who then merged with 4 additional other Mining companies in 2015 called Eagle Hill explorations , Temex Resources who came with projects including the Val d'Or Windfall Lake project as well as 2 additional net smelter return royalties, and Corona Gold and Ryan Gold who added cash and securities. After this consolidation of assets , they Oban acquired Northern Gold Mining for its Golden Bear project in Ontario and Nio Gold Mining Corporation for its Marban project in Quebec........and then re-named this Company back to Osisko Mining Corporation in June 2016 ( or 2 years after being taken over by Eagle and Yamana ).
Interesting also is that ALL 5 original BOD members from the original Osisko Mining were involved in this ' resurrection ' of Osisko Mach Deux. Almost sounds familiar doesn't it with many of Sayona's BOD members being original founders of Orocobre .....and who went on to create Altura and Sayona and Altura again ......and Sayona again .....as well as being heavily involved in their own Lithium Royalties Co in LRC. So the similarities and abilities of these particular ' set of skill ' type individuals are uncanny. And even more so when you think that Osisko went on to acquire Stornoway Diamond Corporation with its Renard diamond mine in 2019 ......and then created O3 Mining Inc .....who first acquired Alexandria Minerals Corporation who also already absorbed the prolific Ontario and Quebec Gold Explorer Murgor Resources Inc before coming complete circle with its 2.2% interest in Troilus Gold Corp and perhaps remaining 50% rights which it continued to hold post the Troilus 2018 takeover of Beaufield and because Quebec still had them ( Guo Ao Lithium ) having to get approval from Osisko in July 2019. So unless Quebec just hadn't caught up with the changes in ownership in Jul 2019 , it would appear that Troilus are the main party that Sayona would now have to deal with and that they are the entity which completely surrounds the Moblan projects apart from Kenorland Minerals who is shown in ' Green ' on the above Troilus Area Map.
Kenorland is another entity we can discuss later ....suffice to say they are also highly prospective for Hydro Thermal Gold as well as VMS style Copper/ Gold discoveries as is Toilus with their proposed reopening of the Troilus Copper / Gold Mine which produced 2 million ounces of Gold and 70,000 of copper between 1996 and 2010. Kennorland's SP has been pretty quiet with nothing special over the last 6 months until recently when the stock has lifted 6.58% in the last weeks or so and is currently only valued at around C$37.5 million. Interesting that their ' Frotet ' project surrounding Moblan and in nearology to the Troilus mine site up until the 3rd of November just gone by was based only on an earn in to 35% with Sumitomo Metals Mining Canada Limited having 65% with a further option to go to 80% based on further exploration funding of C$4 million by November 2021. So I guess the project area is so good that they ( Sumitomo ) decided to take 10.1% direct interest in Kenorland at $1 for a total of $5,211,945 and where they didn't own any shares in Kenorland previously.
And where the interest in this area and the with Sumitomo becomes intriguing , is that they ( Sumitomo Corp - the parent ) are also the exclusive Agents for Lithium Carbonate produced by USMags ( US Magnesium ) and for the sale of Lithium Carbonate from its 10,000 ton per annum Great Salt Lake lithium carbonate plant in Northern Utah plant and whereby they have exclusivity in marketing the carbonate to Japan , Korea , and China and who are becoming significantly more involved with other battery metals including more specifically Copper. Keep in mind that US Magnesium is owned by the ' Private ' family owned New York based holding company the Renco Group Inc so unless you specifically looked into this , you may not have even known.
So I guess it is important to also bring yourself up to speed with Kenorland Minerals Ltd to the extent that they too are significant Moblan surrounding operators and may or may not come into play at some stage given their ' Low ' relative market cap is to the area's prospectivity and current access.
However coming back to Osisko and why in my opinion they are so important to the potential ' leverage ' to other possibilities in the area is that the CDPQ ( Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec ) or otherwise known as the Quebec Public Pensions and Investment funds with over C$360 billion in funds under management ( compares to the Australian Future Fund of only A$180 billion ) .....and who were significant backers of Osisko Gold Royalties takeover in June 2017 of a precious metals portfolio including 74 royalties , streams and precious metal offtakes valued at C$1.125 billion off Orion Mine Finance Group ( Nemaska's previous Funders ) ....and in which CDPQ backed them by taking up a C$275 private placement stake in Osisko together with 150 million of revolving credit from the Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal with the total deal value at the time represented by C$675 million in cash and C$450 million in Osisko common stock. After the deal Osisko Royalties would have a total of 131 Royalties and streams including 16 in revenue generation which includes their 5% NSR at the Malartic Quebec Gold mine , and a 3.5% NSR royalty on the world class Éléonore gold mine. In this transaction , they also gained their first 9.6% diamond stream on the Renard diamond mine which they hadn't taken over yet as well as the a 4% gold and silver stream on the Brucejack gold and silver mine which were both new and high-quality mines in Canada at the time of acquisition. They also acquired a 100% silver stream on the substantial Mantos Blancos copper mine in Chile from that transaction as well.
So why is this stuff so important to know now you ask ? And why is it potentially important to Sayona Mining ? Well let's summarize ALL of this corporate maneuvering and posturing particularly how it relates to the Sayona Moblan recent transaction :-
> The area is HIGHLY prospective for not only high grade Lithium , but also underexplored as well as proven high grade Hydrothermal Gold as well as huge VMS style ' NEW ' Copper discoveries.
> The area is so Prospective that it not only attracts the attention of SOQUEM Inc , a subsidiary of Investment Quebec , but also the backing of Osisko Mining Group by the Quebec ' Giant ' Pension Fund Investor CDPQ who now ' indirectly ' has substantial involvement in the royalties and rights via Troilus Gold who holds a commanding and controlling land position in the immediate surrounds of Moblan.
> Not only is BNP a significant Financial Player in Quebec , but they are ALSO a significant partner and advisor to the Quebec pension fund investor CDPQ having advised them on numerous deals including acquisitions of Atlas Air Holdings , G.E Water Technologies business , Inocap Managed accounts and regulatory business ,and Q-Energy renewable energy business platform and basket of power generating photovoltaic solar assets. And now by no mistake , they BNP are SIGNIFICANT investors in Sayona Mining.
> The area is so significant that it ALSO attracts the likes of Sumitomo Metals Canada Limited ( a division of the Giant Sumitomo Corp of Japan ) who have invested heavily into Kenorland Minerals which adjoins the Moblan project area.
> It is extraordinary that even as far back as 2005 when Beaufield Resources first pegged the ground that this ' Island ' of lithium was most likely being held by SOQUEM or Quebec ....or someone who thought that someday these rather small tenements would become valuable in amongst the great ' undiscovered ' and ' unexplored ' areas of this region. So the question here would be WHY ? And it reminds me of those 2 remaining CDC claims which Sayona doesn't appear to have secured off of Exiro Minerals Corp on the Tansim Block......
> Troilus Gold who is ALSO at their PEA stage of advancing their VMS existing Copper Gold prospects at the Troilus Mine with over 8,5000 metres of recent drilling revealing 583,000 ounces of additional inferred resources out of a total delineated indicated category of 4.96 Moz of Au equivalent and 3.15 Moz eq of the total inferred category ......and ALL at a current market capitalization of only C$176.34 million. ( less than A$200 million ).
> Troilus is also working on an advance EIS for reviving its Troilus Copper / Gold mine pit and hence may become a favorable candidate to be pushed forward by Quebec as referred in Guo Ao's ' Collaboration questions put forward by Quebec. And this is also why there may be MORE corporate activity in the Moblan Area before we get the project being further drilled out.
>So given the HUGE upside in VMS Copper & Gold potential of their ( Troilus's ) tenements together with their extensive land holdings including those acquired from BOTH UrbanGold and O3 Mining ( Osisko subsidiary ) , they would be a perfect acquisition which would truly launch Sayona to a FULL BLOWN multinational , multi base metal and EV minerals as well as WORLD CLASS GOLD producer for perhaps ALL under C$300 million.
> Alternatively , Sayona could negotiate with Troilus for access and mineral rights to JUST the lithium which in this area and with this sized land package would set up Sayona and Quebec for potentially the next 50 - 60 years of supply at least.
>As can bee seen by the attached Map's , there are some significant Lithium showings which have already been identified ' outside ' of the Moblan project area and of which might also be able to be secured through a tie-up with Kenorland Minerals and Sumitomo Metals Canada.
Keep in mind also folks that for further evidence of the significance of HUGE economic potential VMS type discoveries in this area of Chibougamau and Moblan , you only have to look at Delta Resources Ltd who is located a little lower down from the ' Frotet-Evans ' greenstone belt ( refer Map below ) and just north of Chibougamau with their potential VMS discovery at their Delta 2 project area where they have hit VMS grades of 4.2% Copper on just initial drilling over a 15+ kilometre formation. So the WHOLE area is HIGHLY prospective for Gold , base metals as well as Lithium and rare earths.
So in conclusion ......and I know its a lot to absorb folks , but I definitely reckon now that the grades , dykes , and outcrop showings are much much better in BOTH the Tansim Lac Simard region as well as the Moblan surrounding district. And especially now with all these ' NEW ' findings of Interest and projects of other nearology players.
So maybe that's where they ( Sayona ) need took for further expansion opportunities. Even Vision's Cancet showings or perhaps others which may be more readily available as BOLT on prospective CDC claims packages.
And I believe they need to approach it in much the same way as they did when they secured most of the Tansim / Lac Simard block....which is now almost ONE SINGLE GIANT ' Homogenous ' future Lithium prospective BLOCK.
So whether they do this by ' negotiation ' with some of the other operating entities for the Lithium rights or straight up make a ' friendly ' script offer , at the moment , they still look to be in the drivers seat with a Market Capitalization of over a $Billion a position to do this relatively cheaply if they act sooner than later ......and in my opinion........
Just a matter of pegging available surrounding claims or doing smaller deals with whomever is holding them privately.......or just taking them over as has Osisko's former BOD members have done over the last 6 or 7 years or so .....and since being taken over themselves in 2014......