Solstice Gold Corp. (TSX-V:SGC) has bolstered its lithium asset package by reaching an option agreement to acquire the Raven-Furniss Lithium project and forming the highly prospective Lightspeed Lithium project, both located near Thunder Bay, Ontario.
These projects bring the company’s 100%-owned Lithium portfolio to 13 distinct assets.
The option deal, dated May 30, will see Solstice pay Grave Ridge Resources Ltd, 1544230 Ontario Inc and 2873454 Ontario Inc, the optionors, $24,200 in cash and issue 450,000 common shares. To exercise the option, the company must pay $24,000 by May 30, 2023, $30,000 by May 30, 2024 and $45,000 by May 30, 2025. Once exercised, the claims will be subject to a 1.5% net smelter return royalty in favor of the optionors, 0.75% of which may be repurchased by Solstice for $1 million, the company said.
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The Lightspeed Lithium project, meanwhile, includes recently staked mining claims totaling approximately 17.1 square kilometers (km2) in the Thunder Bay mining district, the company said.
A sampling of the lake sediment in the Ignace area in 2003 found that, of the 48 samples from the Lightspeed property, 79% had lithium contents above the 90th percentile (between 11.6 and 35.7 parts per million) of the 2,214 total Ignace samples. Additionally, 31% of the 48 samples exceeded the 98th percentile for the entire survey (between 21.8 and 35.7 ppm).
Solstice announced these developments as part of a larger update on its royalty and property portfolio, which includes assets located in Ontario and Quebec. The potential cash inflows from option payments are expected to be approximately $2.4 million over the next 30 months and will partially offset certain corporate costs over that timeframe, the company said.
On top of that, shareholders get exposure to potential windfall gains from new discoveries by project partners as well as exposure to markets, such as the current global interest in Ontario lithium, other rare earth element (REE) assets and copper exploration properties.
“Solstice is unique in that we have an extensive, cash-generating gold and battery metal portfolio that, to date, has demonstrated the ability to fund certain areas of our business,” CEO Mike Timmins said in a statement. “We have harvested over $1 million of cash and share payments since its acquisition and added two new gold royalties. The company continues to develop new plans to generate increased value for shareholders by the potential monetization of certain assets as larger property packages that may include the available gold exploration properties in Quebec or our current stand-alone royalty suite.
Looking ahead, Solstice expects to leverage its lithium asset package in future deals, Timmins added.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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