(Kitco News) - Lithium futures are trading higher, and Asian battery manufacturers are saying demand will surprise to the upside, says Francis MacDonald, CEO and director of Li-FT Power (TSXV:LIFT).
MacDonald spoke to Kitco Mining in early March at PDAC 2024 in Toronto, Canada.
“Hopefully that's an indication that we're coming out of the bottom,” he said, noting lithium carbonate prices have been stuck at around $13,000 a tonne.
Li-FT Power is advancing the Yellowknife lithium project in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The project contains 13 lithium pegmatite systems that are exposed at surface and visible from satellite imagery. Historical channel sampling produced average grades of 1.10 - 1.59% Li2O over 7- to 40-meter widths. Strike extents of pegmatites visible on surface are 100 to 1,800m.
The company drilled 34,000 meters and 200 holes last year, with the goal of moving the project towards a maiden resource estimate in 2024.
Another 18,000 meters is currently being drilled from four rigs.
“There was a lot of work done historically and all we had to do is go in there and start drilling,” MacDonald said of the project adding: “The grades and widths that we're seeing are pretty similar to what we see on surface. We had some big intersects of 80 meters at 1.13%, and there's quite a few intersects in that 30- to 40-meter range at 1.2 to 1.6% Li2O.
He said the Yellowstone project is unique in that it has railway access and a paved highway that goes through seven lithium deposits. Another advantage is the railway runs to the Pacific coast, allowing Li-FT to ship the spodumene concentrate to Asia for processing.
Coverage is sponsored by UEC (Uranium Energy Corp.), URC (Uranium Royalty Corp.) and GoldMining.
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