Shares in Azimut Exploration (TSXV: AZM; US-OTC: AZMTF) rose 12.5% in trading this morning after the company and its partner Soquem announced strong lithium results from the first drill hole at the Galinée property in the James Bay region of Quebec.
Hole GAL23-001 returned 2.48% lithium oxide (Li2O) over 72.7 metres from 139.5 metres depth, as well as 3.38% Li2O over 18 metres (from 174 metres) and 3.27% Li2O over 12.7 metres (from 19.5 metres). The property is about 50 km northwest of the former Renard diamond mine.
The initial 5,000-metre drill program tested the down-dip extension of the deposit defined on the adjacent Adina property, where Australia’s Winsome Resources (ASX: WR1) posted an initial inferred resource of 59 million tonnes at 1.12% Li2O in December.
Galinée lies east of Azimut’s Pikwa project, directly on strike with Adina and Patriot Battery Metals’ (TSXV: PMET; ASX: PMT) Corvette property.
The Galinée target is a shear-hosted zone of spodumene. The visual examination of the drill core indicated a roughly east-west trending lithium zone with a strike length of 700 metres. The zone is largely open to the east and south. Initial data suggests a shallow dip to the south. Seventeen holes were drilled over a length of 4,915 metres in 2023.
Azimut, which holds the property in a 50-50 joint venture with Soquem says the Galinée project is a top priority this year. When results from the first drilling campaign are received, a second phase of drilling will be planned to define the mineralized zone. A property-wide prospecting effort will also take place this summer.
The strong results come about six months after Azimut faced criticism by shareholders that while it held some of Quebec’s most prospective lithium lands, it wasn’t exploring for the key battery metal and was overly focused on gold. Activist shareholders also said it had a discounted stock price valuation compared to its peers and claimed that its business practices weren’t sufficiently respectful to shareholders and neighbouring junior explorers.
Azimut called the accusations inaccurate and false.
Only a very small part of the Galinée property has been explored for lithium to date, according to Azimut. The currently drilled area, in the northernmost part of the property, is part of a much more extensive prospective zone continuing for 12 km farther east and over 21 km along the northwest side of the project. In the southern half of the property, several sectors with 22 km of cumulative strike also display a favourable geological context coupled with attractive lake sediment anomalies.
Azimut shares traded at 90¢ apiece on Tuesday afternoon in Toronto, valuing the company at $72.2 million. Its shares traded in a 52-week range of 65¢ and $1.80.
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