TSX Venture climbs during the Feb. 21-25 trading week

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange rose 7.52 points or 0.899% to 836.21. Spot gold fell US$9.65 per oz. or 0.51% to US$1,884.80 per ounce.  

Shares of Focus Graphite fell 1¢ to 7¢. The company released the first resource estimate for the MOGC deposit on its 100%-owned Lac Tétépisca graphite project, outlining an indicated resource of 59.3 million tonnes grading 10.61% graphitic carbon for 6.3 million tonnes of natural flake graphite and an inferred resource of 14.9 million tonnes grading 11.06% graphitic carbon for 1.6 million tonnes of natural flake graphite. The resource used a cut-off grade of 3.9% graphitic carbon. CEO Mark Roy described MOGC as “one of the largest undeveloped flake graphite deposits in Quebec,” and noted in an interview that the deposit “is considered unique in that it forms a well-defined, linear, tabular-shaped body with clear cut limits on either side.” In March, Focus is planning to drill “another formation with similar characteristics that has been found 2 km to the west of the MOGC,” Roy told The Northern Miner. The 6,200-hectare project, 240 km from the industrial city of Baie-Comeau, consists of two contiguous properties, Lac Tétépisca and Lac Tétépisca Nord.  The company discovered the MOGC deposit in 2012, just one year after acquiring the project, and the resource estimate was based on 106 holes drilled between 2014 and 2020. “We have been exploring the property steadily during that time, as we have always believed in the value of battery metals, and more particularly in the value of our large flake graphite as a critical mineral in the shift to renewable energy sources,” Roy said.  

Nouveau Monde Graphite fell by 44¢ to $8.85 per share. The company released its Climate Action Plan that maps its transition from a carbon-neutral production model to a Net-Zero business model. Nouveau Monde is advancing its Matawinie mining project, located 150 km north of Montreal. On February 10, the company received a ministerial decree from the Quebec government that authorised the company to build a graphite mine with a production level of 100,000 tonnes of graphite per annum. The company expects the mine to become the world’s “first all-electric open-pit mine” and begin commercial production in 2023.  

Sigma Lithium’s shares rose 87¢ to $13.34. The company announced that Bank of America Securities Global Research has named it as a top 50 stock.  BofA’s analysts identified 50 companies in their coverage universe that they describe as ‘enablers’ across ‘scarcity themes’ in different sectors. It expects Sigma will be one of the companies that will supply lithium to the global market in the future. The company owns the Grota do Cirilo project in Brazil and for the last three years has been producing lithium concentrate on a demonstration pilot scale at the site. It is now building a commercial production plant.