Avalon Advanced Materials’ lithium deposit, outside Kenora, has grown by 28 per cent since 2023.
The Toronto junior miner has posted a new mineral estimate of its Separation Rapids project where the company is proposing an open-pit mine. The estimate is based on analysis of assay results from almost 9,000 metres of drilling.
Avalon’s new estimate shows a measured and indicted mineral resources for a combination open pit and underground mine that totals 12.98 million tonnes grading 1.34 per cent lithium oxide amounting to 173,000 contained tonnes.
Inferred resources are estimated at 2.29 million tonnes, grading 1.46 per cent for 33,000 tonnes of lithium oxide, a decrease of 15 per cent in that category.
The difference between measured, indicated and inferred resources is the degree of confidence in the amount of minerals in the ground with measured being the highest and inferred being the lowest.
Avalon is one of four leading lithium players with deposits in northwestern Ontario, a region that’s becoming more internationally known as a burgeoning area for this battery metal. To date, there are still no operating lithium mines and nor processing capacity in the province.
In a news release, company president-CEO Scott Monteith said this latest count is reflective of their steady progress and boosts their confidence on the project’s growth trajectory.
Separation Rapids, located 70 kilometres north of Kenora, is a joint venture agreement struck in 2023 between Avalon and Belgium-based SCR-Sibelco NV.
Sibelco is considered a global leader in mining specialty industrial minerals. It holds a controlling 60 per cent stake in Separation Rapids, making them the owner-operator of the project.
A decision hasn’t been made on digging out an open-pit mine.
Avalon acquired the lithium pegmatite property in 1996 under company founder Don Bubar. After his death in 2023, the company brought aboard new management and struck the deal with Sibelco. The company also purchased a brownfield property in Thunder Bay for a future lithium hydroxide conversion refinery.
As for project financing, Avalon is hunting for funds from the provincial and federal governments and has submitted a white paper to the U.S. Department of Defense.
In a statement, Monteith said they’ll stick to a “disciplined and methodical” strategy on development, taking into account market conditions and government’s critical minerals strategy.
In a recent post to shareholders, Monteith said despite volatile commodity prices in 2024 and a slowing demand for electric vehicles, critical minerals like lithium are still in demand to drive technological advancements.
“We believe that military and national security concerns will present new opportunities, and Avalon is ready to support our continent’s efforts at fortifying our supply chain,” said Monteith.
The work on tap for Separation Rapids this year will involve metallurgical research to study ways to recover and process the lithium material. Geotechnical work will support the design of the pit. An environmental base-line study will support Avalon’s government permitting efforts. Some targetted drilling will take place to expand the deposit and make more discoveries.
Avalon has had some reshuffling in the front office with CEO Scott Monteith taking over as president. Zeeshan Syed is now vice-president of external affairs and partnerships. Rickardo Welyhorsky, vice-president of operations, departed in January.
Filling the gap is a strategic consultant in Mark Ashcroft, an experienced mining executive with a background in operations and finance who will work on strategy and making its Thunder Bay refinery project a reality.
