PROJECTS
Hydra Lithium Project
Project Snapshot
Ownership:
ALX 50% – Forrestania Resources Limited 50%
Size:
8 sub-projects totaling ~29,262 ha.
Location:
James Bay Region, Quebec
In September 2022, ALX acquired the Hydra Lithium Project (“Hydra”, or the “Project”) by map staking in the James Bay region of northern Quebec, Canada. In December 2022 and January 2023, ALX staked additional claims, giving Hydra a total area of 29,262 hectares (72,306 acres). Hydra is located in a world-class lithium exploration district that hosts several significant lithium-cesium-tantalum (“LCT”) type pegmatites.
On July 7, 2023, ALX closed a transaction with Forrestania Resources Limited (“Forrestania”, ASX:FRS), of Perth, Australia, whereby Forrestania completed an option to earn a 50% interest in Hydra by paying to ALX CAD$400,000 and CAD$600,000 in Forrestania common shares, for a total of 4,579,586 common shares. A 50:50 joint venture is now formed between ALX and Forrestania for the Project with ALX acting as operator in exchange for an industry-standard administration fee. ALX and Forrestania will each vest with a 1.5% net smelter returns royalty.
ALX resumed surface exploration in the northeastern area of Hydra at the Python East and Python West sub-projects in the third week of August 2023. A total of 37 samples were collected from outcrop and boulders during the Python East and Python West work programs, all of which are currently in shipment. Following the conclusion of the prospecting program in the eastern Hydra area, ALX’s geological team mobilized back to the western Hydra area and began surface exploration at the Cobra and Viper projects on September 5, 2023. Exploration in the western area of Hydra was halted on June 4, 2023 by order of the Government of Quebec due to the high forest fire risk, a restriction which has now been lifted due to increased rainfall in the region.
Exploration at the Cobra, Viper, Nike, Echo and Sprite sub-projects is planned to continue until the commencement of the annual moose hunting season by the Cree Nation of Wemindji, which occurs from September 15th to October 15th. In the meantime, ALX has expanded the size of its geological crew to cover as much ground as possible on its properties, and weather permitting, plans to return to Hydra to continue prospecting for LCT pegmatites after October 15, 2023.
About the Hydra Lithium Project
- Hydra is underexplored for LCT-type pegmatites, with historical exploration within the James Bay region mainly focused on gold and base metals.
- A regional surficial geochemical review and analysis of the James Bay region was completed by KorrAI of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which identified several areas considered highly prospective for LCT-type pegmatites. KorrAI has developed an artificial intelligence program to scan high-resolution imagery for outcrop that has a greater probability of hosting lithium occurrences.
- The James Bay Hydroelectric Project (total investment by Hydro-Québec is estimated at greater than CAD$16 billion since the late 1970s) created infrastructure for mineral exploration in the form of several all-weather roads, including the Trans-Taiga Road. Working airstrips are present in the region that support helicopter access to Hydra.
- ALX has access to a proprietary high-resolution airborne geophysical database acquired from historical diamond exploration in the James Bay region that could provide important information for the identification of regional trends with potential for hosting pegmatitic rocks.
- Exploration success has been realized by several junior exploration companies in the James Bay region where ALX has staked the Hydra claims, most notably by Patriot Battery Metals Inc., which has reported highly-significant lithium drill intersections in 2022-2023 from their flagship Corvette Lithium Property.
Hydra consists of eight sub-projects totaling 29,262 hectares (72,306 acres) known as Volta (4,751 ha.), Echo (5,566 ha.), Nike (2,462 ha.), Sprite (3,437 ha.), Cobra (4,249 ha.), Viper (1,280 ha.), Python West (4,298 ha.), and Python East (3,218 ha.) all located within a fertile lithium exploration district that is known to host the following lithium deposits:
- James Bay Lithium – (Indicated Mineral Resource: 40.33 million tonnes grading 1.4% Li2O), owned by Allkem Limited.1
- Rose – (Probable: 26.3 million tonnes grading 0.87% Li2O and 138 ppm Ta2O5), owned by Critical Elements Lithium Corporation.2
- Whabouchi – (Measured + Indicated “in Pit” Mineral Resource: 37.356 million tonnes grading 1.48% Li2O), owned by Livent Corporation and Investissment Québec.3
1 Preliminary Economic Assessment, NI 43-101 Technical Report, James Bay Lithium Project Ontario Canada, by G Mining Services, March 8, 2021
2 Rose Lithium-Tantalum Project Feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report, by Simon Boudreau, P.Eng., May 27, 2022
3 NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Whabouchi Lithium Mine and Shawnigan Electrochemical Plant, by Met-Chem et al, November 7, 2018
ALX and Forrestania believe that Hydra is underexplored for LCT pegmatites because of the high prospectivity of the region, as suggested by the highly-positive exploration reports from the Corvette Lithium Deposit and due to the fact that historical exploration carried out in the James Bay region was mainly focussed on gold and base metals. The James Bay Hydroelectric Project (total investment by Hydro-Québec is estimated at greater than CAD$16 billion since the early 1970s) has created infrastructure for mineral exploration in the form of several all-weather roads, including the Trans-Taiga Road. Serviceable airstrips are located in the vicinity providing aircraft support capability for Hydra.
ALX performed site visits on four sub-projects (Volta, Sprite, Nike and Echo) at Hydra beginning in mid-October 2022. The helicopter-assisted reconnaissance prospecting was successful in locating pegmatite bodies in several locations, despite the onset of poor weather conditions that limited the scope of the program.
On January 31, 2023, the Company received a report from its geological contractor, Dahrouge Geological Consulting of Montreal, QC, on the results of the 2022 reconnaissance prospecting program.
Hydra Lithium Project Exploration Highlights
- The primary objective of the 2022 Hydra field program was to sample and discover new areas of lithium-cesium-tantalum (“LCT”) type pegmatites with potential for significant grades of lithium mineralization. Pegmatite outcrops were located during the helicopter-supported prospecting program and a total of 40 rock samples were collected between October 17 and October 22, 2022.
- Several of the samples collected yielded slightly anomalous lithium values and other pathfinder elements commonly associated with LCT-type pegmatite mineralization, such as cesium, tantalum, rubidium, and beryllium. In particular, rubidium concentrations ranging up to 189 parts per million (“ppm”) were sampled on the Nike Property, and up to 232 ppm rubidium on the Volta Property.
In late 2022, KorrAI Technologies of Halifax, NS conducted an artificial intelligence algorithmic search of a large database of historical assessment reports, targeting indicators of lithium-bearing pegmatites in Quebec. ALX staked two new sub-projects known as Python West and Python East claims. This data search successfully identified a pegmatite containing a historical lithium sample grading 330 ppm lithium at Python West. Python West claims total 4,297 hectares, and Python East claims total 3,219 hectares. The new claims cover the lithium-pegmatite showing and an area of metamorphosed Archean greenstone interpreted to extend to the southwest of the lithium showing. The Python claims are located in an outlying underexplored area northeast of the initial Hydra claim blocks approximately 100 kilometres north of the Trans-Taiga Road.
2023 Exploration Plans at Hydra
In the 2023 field season, follow-up geological and geochemical surveys are planned across the highest-priority areas in order to delineate potentially lithium-bearing pegmatite dykes and sills and to optimize resultant drill targets.
On May 31, 2023, ALX commenced its current exploration at Hydra for LCT pegmatites, but the access restrictions imposed by the Government of Quebec due to forest fires in the region led to the suspension of the program on June 4, 2023. Upon the resumption of exploration, the Hydra joint venture will focus on systematic prospecting, geological mapping and geochemical sampling. In conjunction with its own consulting geologist, Robert Campbell, P. Geo., ALX has contracted a Quebec-based geological consulting company and a helicopter for the prospecting program to be initially based from the town of Radisson, Quebec.
National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by John Charlton, P.Geo., a consultant to ALX, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101.
Mineral resource information from lithium deposits in the James Bay region quoted herein were taken directly from publicly available disclosure. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by operators unrelated to ALX and have not been verified nor confirmed by its Qualified Person but create a scientific basis for ongoing work in the Hydra project area. Management further cautions that historical results or discoveries on adjacent or nearby mineral properties are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on ALX’s mineral properties.