(Kitco News) – With decarbonization in full swing and so many strong prospects to explore, this is a very exciting time to be looking for lithium, according to Killian Charles, President and CEO of Brunswick Exploration.
Charles sat down with Kitco Mining at Xplor 2024 in Montreal. He said the company’s first move beyond Canada’s borders was met with near-instant success.
“Lithium is an industry that has only seen true sustained exploration for the last five years at most, outside of Australia,” he said. “That means there's staggering opportunities out there. And when we took a step back, we said to ourselves, ‘What other areas is the geology also pointing us to?’”
Charles said this led them to Greenland, a geologically promising area that had never been explored for lithium in a systematic fashion. “We leveraged our expertise that we had honed over the previous years, we leveraged our new technology,” he said. “And sure enough, within 20 days in the field, on the very last day, we go ahead and make a discovery.”
“That's exactly what you want to be seeing when you're a geologist, when you're an exploration company,” he added. “To build a hypothesis, to go ahead and stake it, to test it, and to be rewarded for it. That is a very good feeling.”
Regarding the broader lithium market, Charles said that investors need to think beyond EVs and recognize the opportunity for lithium demand in renewable power generation and storage.
“I invite everyone to look on that side, solar [and] renewables,” he said. “It's moving a lot faster than people realize, and it's going to be coming at us. Just like with smartphones, we went from before the iPhone to after the iPhone, where all of a sudden everyone had one. And I feel we're getting on the cusp of the same thing when it comes to solar panels. It's cost-effective and it's scalable. And all of a sudden, we'll look back and be like, ‘Wow, that happened fast. Over five years, we've got solar panels everywhere.’”
“That time is coming and that's going to create a lot of lithium demand,” Charles said. “Yes, lithium markets are tough right now, but I think everyone agrees that if you look at anything beyond the ultra-short-term, the future is bright.”
“Everything points towards decarbonization being successful. It's going to be a very bright future.”
Coverage of Xplor 2024 was sponsored by Radisson Mining Resources.
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