James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY) has identified spodumene crystals during its maiden field exploration program at its Aero Property in Quebec, Canada.
The $18.15 million market capitalisation company reports the anomalous lithium values at the Warhawk outcrop, which were uncovered from a SciAps LIBS Z-903 device, coincide with the discovery of the spodumene mineral in outcrop and highlight the presence of lithium in the pegmatite.
Further, the mineral observed within the Warhawk pegmatite appears light-green in colour on a weathered surface with crystal habit, cleavage, hardness, and ‘positive’ LIBS readings.
James Bay says this supports the identification of the mineral as spodumene.
James Bay Minerals Executive Director Andrew Dornan says the company has ‘great’ confidence in its theory that the James Bay properties have the potential for a ‘major’ lithium discovery following the identification of a ‘large’ pegmatite field within 2 weeks of exploration.
“We are looking forward to receiving assay results from this first phase of exploration and advancing this highly prospective property towards drilling.”
The company collected samples for petrography and/or x-ray powder diffraction (XRD) work to validate the primary lithium-bearing mineral as spodumene and confirm if other lithium minerals are present.
Assay work will be used to determine lithium content, which has initially been identified by the hand-held LIBS analyser.
Breakaway Exploration Senior Field Geologist Mark Fekete says this discovery confirms that the Warhawk pegmatite contains lithium. Breakway is James Bay Minerals’ exploration partner in the region.
“Now that we have proven through a recognised exploration technique that lithium is present, our focus is to now determine where the highest concentration of lithium is within the Warhawk and other pegmatite dykes on the property,” Fekete says.
“Now that we have proven through a recognised exploration technique that lithium is present, our focus is to now determine where the highest concentration of lithium is within the Warhawk and other pegmatite dykes on the property”
James Bay notes that ‘significant’ organic coverage across Aero’s pegmatites, including moss and lichen, makes it difficult to observe spodumene at surface or to estimate the percentage of lithium mineralisation accurately.
The company’s field team is continuing to explore a ‘significant’ pegmatite system to grasp the full understanding of the mineralisation, as it remains in its early stages and interpretations are subject to change as more information becomes available.
Following today’s announcement, James Bay’s share price has increased by 8.33% to $0.32 as of 11:40am AEDT on 31 October.
The Aero prospect covers a 4,365 hectare area and is considered ‘highly prospective’ for lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites. The discovery announced today is located along-trend from Winsome Resources’ (ASX:WR1) Cancet deposit and Patriot Battery Metals’ (ASX:PMT) Corvette deposit.
James Bay Minerals is a Canada-focused lithium explorer. The company wholly owns 224km-square of prospective lithium projects within the James Bay region of Quebec, Canada.
As of 30 September 2023, the company had $4.458 million cash and cash reserves at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: James Bay Minerals
