James Bay Minerals now owns the largest lithium portfolio in the neighbourhood

James Bay Minerals (ASX: JBY), the sole owner of “La Grande Project”, has announced that it has expanded the land holding - meaning it now owns one of the largest lithium exploration portfolios on the Greenstone belt in the Istchee-James Bay region in Quebec, Canada. 

The announcement comes as a result of the team’s maiden field program and desktop studies, as well as notable regional activities and results from its peers.  

“JBY’s land position is one of the largest along the premium La Grande greenstone belt with approximately 55km of lithium trend from east to west,” James Bay Executive Director Andrew Dornan said. 

“This is significant given the rate of discoveries along the La Grande greenstone belt.”

James Bay Minerals’ land holding has strategically increased by 12,116 hectares, while the Aqua property has increased by 5,578 hectares. This directly neighbours and is on trend from FIN Resources (ASX: FIN) - which recently made an outcropping spodumene discovery. 

La Grande Project is located along the trend from Patriot Battery Metals’ (ASX: PMT) world-class deposit, as well as Winsome Resources’ (ASX: WR1) Cancet Lithium Project. The project now covers a total area of 30,168 hectares. 

A comparison of project area for ASX-listed companies in James Bay (Source: James Bay Minerals)

As Dornan explained, this is a significant opportunity for investors. 

"There are only two Tier 1 locations in the world known for massive lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites - West Australia and James Bay,” he said. 

“M&A activity in West Australia has seen Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) become the dominant players fending off international bids. With Albermarle and SQM about to lose their Chilean assets due to nationalisation, that leaves over US$10 billion seeking investments.” 

Dornan believes that James Bay is the only logical solution. 

“James Bay Minerals now has the largest land holding along the lithium trend on the La Grande Greenstone belt, the same trend as Patriot Battery Metals and Winsome Resources,” he said. 

What you need to know

James Bay Minerals’ Aqua property: 

• Area expanded by 5,887 hectares. 

• Total area of the property now covers 8,803 hectares. 

• FIN Resources recently made a discovery on the northwest border of this property. This discovery was made across multiple locations trending west to east - covering a corridor 65m wide and 250m long. 

James Bay Minerals’ Joule property: 

• Area expanded by 5,887 hectares

• Total area of the property now covers 16,385 hectares. 

• Expansion comes off the back of desktop reviews and helicopter mapping

• This is James Bay Minerals’ flagship property, encompassing a 24km long deformation zone along a regional fault which hasn’t seen much exploration to date

James Bay Minerals’ Aero property: 

• Area expanded by 614 hectares. 

• Total area of the property is now 4,980 hectares. 

• The project contains 12km of deformation zones - which are considered to be highly prospective for LCT pegmatites. 

• The explorer believes this to be significant thanks to FIN Resources’ recent discovery on the northwest border of James Bays’ Aqua property. 

LCT pegmatites require neo archaean rocks, placements along major regional faults and greenstone belts in proximity to granites.