Prairie lithium brines: Gauging potential producers

Canada’s Prairie provinces are emerging as hotspots of lithium brine exploration activity, as companies utilize oil and gas infrastructure and extraction methods to access brines through thousands of wells. Almost a dozen companies are vying to put the first Canadian brine projects into production.

Below, The Northern Miner tracks the progress of nine advancing projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Projects are colour-coded by their current status from initial resource, through preliminary economic assessments (PEA), PEAs plus successful brine recovery tests, up to the completion of a prefeasibility study. They’re plotted on the graph comparing the sizes of their global resources and grades.

Highwood Asset Management (TSX: HAM) – Drumheller property (Alberta)
Market capitalization: $96.4 million
Resource: 18.1 million inferred tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) grading 20 mg per litre

E3 Lithium (TSXV: ETL; US-OTC: EEMMF) – Clearwater project (Alberta)
Market capitalization: $131 million
Resource: 16.9 million global tonnes at 74 mg per litre

NeoLithica (Private) – Peace River project (Alberta)
Resource: 10 million inferred tonnes LCE at 70 mg per litre

LithiumBank Resources (TSXV: LBNK; US-OTC: LBNKF) Boardwalk (Alberta)
Market capitalization: $39.7 million
Resource: 6.1 million global tonnes at 71.6 mg per litre

LithAlta Projects (TSXV: LAP, TSXV approval pending)* – Clear Hills (Alberta)
Resource: 5.5 million inferred tones at 72 mg per litre

Volt Lithium (TSXV: VLT) – Rainbow Lake (Alberta)
Market capitalization: $30.1
Resource: 4.9 million inferred tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate at 51 mg per litre

Grounded Lithium (TSXV: GRD; US-OTC: GRDAF) – Kindersley (Saskatchewan)
Market capitalization: $3.5 million
Resource: 4.2 million global tonnes at 74 mg per litre

Arizona Lithium (ASX: AZL) – Prairie lithium (Saskatchewan)
Market capitalization: A$134.2 million ($121.7 million)
Resource: 4.5 million indicated tonnes LCE at 106 mg per litre and 1.8 million inferred tonnes LCE at 101 mg per litre

EMP Metals (CSE: EMPS; US-OTC: EMPPF) – Viewfield and Mansur (Saskatchewan)
Market capitalization: $33.9 million
Resource: 1.2 million inferred tonnes at 148 mg per litre

*Lincoln Ventures is in the process of acquiring Prism Diversified and plans to change its name to LithAlta Projects