How James Bay Minerals landed both a spodumene and pegmatite discovery this week

From boots on the ground in mid-September to its first pegmatite discovery in October, followed by a second discovery in November, the rate of discoveries for James Bay Minerals (ASX: JBY) has been ‘exceptional’, says its Executive Director Andrew Dornan.

The company is currently undertaking early stage exploration activities at its Aero tenure, which forms part of the La Grande Project in the globally renowned James Bay Region of Quebec.

Ongoing field exploration discovered nine additional fractionated pegmatite dykes covering an area of ~1.5km long and ~500m wide. Earlier this week, the company confirmed the presence of lithium-bearing minerals at the Warhawk outcrop within the Aero property.

In this Rapid Fire edition, James Bay Minerals' Corporate Development Manager Matthew Hays shares the key insights investors need to know about the company's recent discoveries, the secret sauce to rapid discoveries and what’s on the horizon. 

James Bay Minerals Snapshot

• Market cap: $19 million

• Cash: $4.45 million as at 30 September 2023

• Major focus: Lithium exploration

• Projects: La Grande and Troilus, both located in Quebec, Canada

• Interesting fact: JBY holds one of the largest lithium exploration tenures in the James Bay region at 224km²

Aero property satellite imagery (Source: James Bay Minerals)

What is the key message from the announcement?

We have now discovered 2 'FIELDS' of fractionated pegmatites! A massive corridor totalling over 5km in length containing over 30 large pegmatites.

Why is this announcement significant for the company?

Fractionated pegmatites indicate that the pegmatite is highly likely to be mineralised, the spodumene discovery and LIBS Lithium readings of the Warhawk pegmatite confirms this.

Did the result meet, beat or miss your expectations?

We anticipated the area to have significant pegmatites and mineralisation, and are making discoveries non stop since commencing the exploration campaign.

You've gone from boots on the ground to two spodumene discoveries in ~2 months. What would you attribute this speed to?

The selection process of the ground.  

We spent 2 years narrowing down to the North James Bay region as the highest rate of new Lithium spodumene discovery in the world, and then ensured the properties we acquired had all 3 key ingredients needed for massive Lithium Cesium Tantalum (LCT) pegmatites. 

The three ingredients being:

• Neo Archaean rocks;

• Placement along major regional faults; and

• Lying on greenstone belts in proximity to granites

What are some of the key details that investors should pay attention to?

The amount of land held along the lithium trends by companies: The lithium trend is a combination of all 3 ingredients, right age archean rocks,  greenstone belts, intercepting with massive deformation corridors.  James Bay Minerals properties are across over 40km of these corridors, one of the largest land holdings in Northern Quebec. 

Are pegmatites mineralised and fractionated and at surface: Pegmatites at surface make the process of exploration significantly easier.  Once you know the pegmatite is highly fractionated and mineralised, it is just a process of identifying where the core with the most saturated amount of spodumene is within the pegmatite.  The LCT minerals form in different zones of the pegmatite.

What are the next steps and upcoming catalysts, and when will they happen? 

The next catalyst is more discoveries.  More Lithium, more spodumene and more pegmatite fields.