For decades Canada had been known to host extensive brine and hard-rock lithium deposits, but after production fits and starts the nation is only just emerging as a lithium supplier.
In March, Piedmont Lithium and Sayona Mining restarted production at their North American Lithium project in Quebec with a target of 226,000 tonnes per year, adding to the output of the much smaller Tanco mine in Manitoba.
The size of the prize is enormous: North American (mainly US) battery-making capacity is forecast to surge from 177-gigawatt hours currently to 998 GWh (one-billion-watt hours) by 2030.
Since July 2022, Balkan has accumulated more than 140 square kilometres across five Canadian tenements.
Last month the company finalised the purchase of 100 per cent of the 42 square kilometre Barbara Lake Project, in Ontario’s spodumene(hard rock lithium) bearing district of Thunder Bay North.
Last December Balkan staked two claims in Quebec, covering 22 square kilometres in the James Bay district, just north of Patriot BatteryMetals’ Corvette property.
In July last year, Balkan gained a first-mover advantage by snaring the Gorge lithium project, in the Georgia Lake area of Thunder Bay North, from a local prospector in a cash and scrip deal.
The tenements are part of the larger Georgia Lake pegmatite district, which is known to host mineralised deposits containing rare minerals including lithium, beryllium, tantalum, niobium, and tin.
Balkan’s other ground includes Tango, an expanse of largely unexplored ground in the Georgia Lake area.
“It’s all part of a continuing lithium land grab in the area, which remains unabated despite the recent slippage in sky-high lithium prices,” Balkan managing director Ross Cotton says.
“Fortunately, Balkan was able to secure most of its tenements ahead of the rush when prices were reasonable.”
Cotton notes the proximity of the Ontario ground to Rock Tech Lithium and Imagine Lithium’s projects, which are both in development.
Rock Tech‘s ground is less than 50 kilometres from Balkan’s Arrel project, while Imagine’s land surrounds Tango.
Cotton notes that Rock Tech has an indicated resource of 10.6 million tonnes grading 0.88 per cent lithium and an inferred resource of 4.2 million tonnes at one per cent, on a land area smaller than Balkan’s.
Rock Tech’s project is expected to produce 100,000 tonnes with a modest initial investment of $US192 million ($280 million) and an internal rate of return of 48 per cent.
Even closer to Balkan’s Tango and Barbara Lake properties. Imagine’s tenements have a historical resource of two million tonnes at 1.09 per cent and 750,000 tonnes at 1.38 per cent.
Rock Tech Lithium is expected to begin mining in 2025, as is the ASX-listed Green Technology Metals with its flagship Seymour Project nearby.
With the Northern summer approaching, Balkan is preparing to launch follow-up fieldwork and an inaugural drilling campaign on high-priority targets at the Gorge and Tango projects
Naturally, the company is also keen to initiate preliminary exploration at the newly-acquired Barbara Lake, using “modern techniques which have led to recent significant discoveries in the region.”
Both the Ontario and Quebec projects are close to ports, serviced by good rail and road and proximate to green hydroelectric power. ThunderBay is a thriving hub of mining activity with all the services one would expect for a populace of well over 100,000.
“In addition, the First Nations people are commercially minded and happy to do business with us,” Cotton says.
The company was formed to acquire the Serbian lithium assets of the ASX-listed Jadar Resources (now EV Resources), listed in July 2021 under the code BMM.
Balkan has two tenements in Serbia with a total area of 336 square kilometres – more than twice the size of the company’s Canadian land.
The biggest tenement is Balkan’s fully owned Rekovac Lithium- Borate Project, about 100 kilometres from the capital of Belgrade.
Geologically the area is similar to Rio Tinto’s world-class Jadarite discovery – one of the world’s largest lithium deposits measuring 143 million tonnes at a whopping grade of 1.79 per cent.
Balkan’s Serbian operations are on watching brief, following a resurgence of anti-mining sentiment, characterised by “inflammatory” social media posts about Balkan’s activities.
“The company continues to engage with relevant authorities with regard to Balkan’s Serbian activities and continues to monitor the situation,” the company says.
Balkan’s board now includes Karl Simich, who has 36 years of mining industry experience and most recently headed WA copper and gold producer Sandfire Resources.
Sandfire owns 21 per cent of Balkan, while EV Resources accounts for a further 17 per cent.
Simich’s background is especially valuable, given he has taken numerous projects – including Sandfire’s DeGrussa project – from exploration to production.
Cotton says Balkan is well placed to advance the Canadian programs with its ‘can do’ attitude to exploring in a cost-effective way.
“We don’t just sit on our bums in West Perth and pocket our salaries,” he says. “We roll up our sleeves, and we are going to spend the money in the ground.”
