The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Engages Yellowknives Dene before start of lithium exploration North of 60 Mining News - April 19, 2023
A large pegmatite body outcrops on Li-FT Power's Yellowknife Lithium project on the traditional territory of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation in Northwest Territories.
Li-FT's lithium projects in the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province.
Li-FT Power Ltd. April 19 announced that it has entered into a preliminary agreement with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation ahead of a 42,000-meter drill program that it plans to carry out this year on its newly assembled Yellowknife Lithium project about 60 kilometers east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Li-FT is a new junior exploration company formed early last year that is focused on lithium, a metal that is in high demand due to its use in the batteries powering electric vehicles.
Toward this goal, the company has assembled a 141,572-hectare (349,832 acres) land package east of Yellowknife that covers at least 16 known pegmatites, a white igneous rock that is a primary hardrock source for lithium. The company has grouped the mineral leases that make up this larger package into two groups – a road-accessible cluster about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Yellowknife and a second set near Vital Metals Ltd.'s Nechalacho rare earths mine about 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of the NWT capital.
Historical channel sampling of pegmatite outcrops on the properties acquired by Li-FT have produced average grades from 1.1 to 1.59% lithium oxide over widths of seven to 40 meters. These lithium-bearing pegmatites can be traced on the surface for 100 to 1,800 meters along strike.
In March, Li-FT closed a C$35 million financing to fund its exploration of these properties, as well as lithium projects in Quebec.
Before mobilizing to its flagship project in Northwest Territories, however, Li-FT signed a memorandum of understanding with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation that will lay the foundation for a long-term and definitive agreement between the lithium explorer and First Nation.
"We are very pleased to sign this MOU that will lead to a definitive Engagement Agreement with the YKDFN," said LI-FT Power CEO Francis MacDonald. "LIFT is committed to working collaboratively and respectfully with Indigenous groups and creating a mutually beneficial working relationship to explore in Indigenous traditional territory."
The Yellowknives Dene First Nation is directly involved with the mining of rare earths at Nechalacho. Det'on Cho Nahanni Construction Ltd., a Northwest Territories-based First Nations company, has carried out the mining and earthworks completed so far at the rare earths mine near Li-FT's lithium property.
Now the First Nation looks forward to building another mutually beneficial relationship with a company seeking metals in its territory that are critical to the clean energy transition.
"The Yellowknives Dene First Nation are looking forward to continue building a long and prosperous relationship with LIFT and hope we can work together as partners to benefit our community and those involved in LIFT's endeavors," said Lena Black, assistant CEO of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.
Li-FT plans to launch its inaugural 42,000-meter resource drill program on the Yellowknife Lithium project around June 1.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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