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High Voltage: PMT’s Corvette lithium resource could be a 300Mt titan… if an ENTIRE LAKE can be drained first

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• “200-300Mt resource is being considered longer term” at Patriot’s Corvette: E&P Financial Group
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• Would make the Corvette one of the top 5 lithium resources in the world
• But much of the Corvette deposit sits below a large lake, which will have to be drained first
• Macquarie Equity Research names lithium stocks it believes are a buying opportunity

Our High Voltage column wraps the news driving ASX stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earths, manganese, magnesium, and vanadium.

Before you take a good look at the ASX’s battery metal players’ form guide (see table further below)… there are a couple of headline acts you might want to power through first, because they certainly caught our attention…

Some intel from PMT’s Corvette

Wealth management and investment advisory group E&P Financial Group (ASX:EP1) was recently invited to attend a Patriot Battery Metals (ASXMT) site out at the exploration company’s world-class Corvette project in the James Bay region of Quebec, Canada.

And the financial services group, specifically analysts Adam Martin and Branco Skocic, have noted a couple of pretty eye-opening takeaways from the trip, which we’ll get to in a sec.

Just a super quick recap, on Corvette, first. If you know your lithium stocks, you’ll be aware this project is a pretty big deal in the increasingly competitive world of spodumene-rich pegmatite hunting over in Canada. It’s right in the thick of the hottest Tier 1 lithium region this year – James Bay – with seven drill rigs currently on site.

The main Corvette deposit has a resource of 109.2Mt @ 1.42% Li2O and 160 ppm Ta2O5 (at a cut-off of 0.4% Li2O).

It’s said to be the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas, based on contained LCE, and one of the top 10 in the world.

PMT is currently engaged in a 30km drilling program, largely focused on what’s known as the CV13 pegmatite cluster, of which the company believes to be connected to CV5 based on similar geological traits. If CV5 and CV13 are connected, this would create a >10km long orebody, notes E&P Capital.

A maiden CV13 resource is expected to be released in Q2 next year, and PMT is fully funded for a massive 80km of drilling to prove up further resources.

Right then, some facts established, what were the E&P analysts’ two big takeaways from the PMT visit?

A massive resource that could be EVEN MASSIVE-er

“We came away with the impression that a 200-300Mt resource is being considered longer term,” wrote Martin and Skocic.

That would make the Corvette deposit one of the top 5 lithium resources in the world.

“Our conversations suggest a progressive increase in resource size over time is most likely (similar to how Pilgangoora grew across the 2015-18 timeframe).”

See the E&P graphics below for some context around where Corvette sits in the grand scheme of global spodumene deposits.

It seems PMT has potential, then, to double, maybe even close to triple the lithium resource capacity out at Corvette.

There’s just one dampener that lies in the way, though…

An entire lake will have to be drained first

Yep. Much of the Corvette deposit sits below a large lake in the region. And it’s a lake that Patriot will have to first drain if it wants to achieve its lofty resource goals.

Thanks to the wonders of modern engineering, it’s not that such a thing is not doable, the sticking point is the fact PMT will need approval to do so from the local First Nations population – the Cree.

As for the lake’s aquatic life, it won’t get much of a say in the matter.

Drill rig on barge at Corvette. Source: E&P Research

Notes E&P:

“While Patriot is currently drilling out acreage away from the lake, draining lakes is not without precedent in this part of Canada.

“We spent time with the company understanding how the required HADD permit is obtained, what circumstances could prevent one being issued and how the company is engaging with the Cree (local native population). We came away confident that the lake could be drained providing Cree approval is obtained.”

As you might expect, Patriot has reportedly spent a lot of time engaging with the Cree and, notes E&P, “the relationship appears to be on good terms”.

“This feedback is consistent with our conversations with other investors who have suggested the Cree have been pragmatic in their dealing with other operators in the region. Pleasingly, the acreage is not a primary Cree fishing/hunting zone either.”