Overview
It’s no secret the world is staring down a looming lithium deficit. By 2030, global demand is predicted to reach over 3 million metric tons. Even if every single lithium project currently in pre-production were to be made operational by 2030, there would still be at least a 10 percent supply gap that could hobble efforts to transition to net zero and embrace clean energy. Lithium is arguably one of the most important battery metals where sustainability is concerned. A key component in electric vehicle batteries, lithium is also a considerable limiting factor in their production.
Part of the problem is the current state of the global lithium supply chain. China currently controls roughly 70 percent of global lithium production despite only supplying 13 percent of the world’s lithium. Challenging this dominance requires both domestic production and a domestic supply chain for lithium. More importantly, it requires the capacity to swiftly bring large quantities of spodumene lithium to market.
Having recognized this long-term demand opportunity, North Arrow Minerals (TSXV:NAR) has the goal of leveraging its decades of experience and knowledge exploring for resources in Northern Canada to bring to production, as quickly as possible, several promising spodumene pegmatite deposits located near infrastructure in that region.
North Arrow, after all, has an advantage over other junior mining companies looking to capitalize on the lithium market. The company has had an extensive presence in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories for many years now. Its leadership is more than familiar with the many challenges of mining in the north.
More importantly, North Arrow’s leadership has established and maintained strong relationships with both provincial governments and community leaders. When the company needs to survey a site or visit a project, it doesn’t send consultants. It ensures its own people have boots on the ground.
That’s one of the reasons North Arrow is a two-time winner of the Nunavut Mining Symposium Corporate Award. These community connections alongside North Arrow’s expertise have already served it well. It has, in one year, established three permitted and drill-ready projects close to infrastructure in the Northwest Territories – DeStaffany, LDG and MacKay.
Of these, DeStaffany was the first lithium project the company acquired and could be a spodumene resource with the greatest potential to get to market first.. Successfully acquired at a significantly lower cost (only the staking costs) than most other companies exploring the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province, the project hosts four pegmatites. Two of these deposits, Moose 1 and Moose 2 have demonstrated significant lithium mineralization in surface sampling. The property also has the benefit of being located on the shoreline of Great Slave Lake, ensuring easy shipping access via barge to the railhead in Hay River.
Company Highlights
Lithium demand is rapidly outpacing supply, with a supply shortfall predicted as early as 2027.There are many exploration companies in the lithium sector; those with projects close to infrastructure that can get a spodumene concentrate to market quicker will be rewarded.North Arrow Minerals is a junior mining and exploration company focused on developing hard-rock lithium projects located in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) and Nunavut (NU).Three permitted and drill-ready, 100 percent owned hard-rock lithium projects close to infrastructure in the Northwest Territories – DeStaffany, LDG and MacKay.All three projects have spodumene pegmatite deposits at the delineation drilling stage.Management and directors with a successful track record of resource discovery and development in Canada’s North; two discoveries have gone on to become successful mines (the Diavik Diamond Mine and the Nechalacho Rare Earth Mine).Through these decades of northern exploration experience, management has developed strong relationships with businesses, leadership and communities in the NWT and NU.Two-time winner of the Nunavut Mining Symposium Corporate Award, recognizing its contribution to the economic and social development of Nunavut, particularly the community of Naujaat.Maintains a strategic partnership with Panarc Resources, the goal of which is to identify additional lithium properties in the NWT and Nunavut.Maintains a portfolio of four diamond projects in the NWT, NU and Saskatchewan and one legacy gold project that borders Agnico Eagle’s Doris Mine property in NU.
Key Projects
DeStaffany Project
An advanced-stage lithium project in the Yellowknife Pegmatite Province, DeStaffany spans roughly 1,800 hectares on the shores of the Great Slave Lake. North Arrow maintains 100 percent ownership over the project, which boasts the same geologic setting as Li-FT Power’s highly successful Yellowknife Lithium project and a handful of other Canadian and Australian junior companies.
DeStaffany is home to four spodumene pegmatites, two of which, Moose 1 and 2, are to be drilled in 2024. Though both deposits are noted in historical records documenting the existence of the DeStaffany Mine, only Moose 2 was ever actually mined. In the 1940s and 1950s Moose Two was test-mined for tantalum, niobium and tin. Neither deposit was ever evaluated or targeted for lithium.
North Arrow conducted a preliminary exploration program in June 2023, collecting 68 rock sawn channel samples from 20 channels testing Moose 1 and 2 as well as Moose 3 and 4, which were discovered during the program.
Project Highlights:
DeStaffany contains four lithium-tantalum-niobium bearing pegmatites Moose 1, 2, 3 and 4; Moose 1, 2 and 3 have demonstrated significant lithium oxide assays and warrant further assessment through drilling.Moose 1 – 370 meters exposed strike length, averaging 4.5 to 6 meters in width; max width ~11 meters; spodumene mineralization returned 1.5 percent lithium oxide over 7.5 meters from 2009 channel sample; never drilled;Moose 2 – 450 meters strike length; up to 30 meters wide; bulk sampled for tantalum and niobium in the 40s and 50s; elevated lithium analyses of up to 2.73 percent lithium oxide returned from samples along at least a 250-meter strike length of the body; never drilled for lithium.Moose 3 – discovered in June 2023 returned lithium oxide grades of 1.2 percent over 2 meters.Planning underway for drilling of Moose 1 and 2, and possibly Moose 3, in spring or summer of 2024; size potential of Moose 3 remains uncertain due to significant overburden cover limiting exposure.
MacKay Lithium Project
The MacKay Lithium Project in the Northwest Territories is immediately adjacent to the winter road connecting the city of Yellowknife with the Lac de Gras diamond mines. MacKay has two spodumene-bearing pegmatites of significant outcropping size and grade discovered thus far: MK1 and MK3.
Project Highlights:
Two spodumene bearing pegmatites of significant outcropping size and grade discovered thus far: MK1 and MK3.MK1 consists of a series of irregular sub-parallel pegmatite dykes ranging from 0.5 meters to >10 meters wide over a combined width of up to 150 meters and traced over an interpreted strike extent of greater than 400 meters; hand samples from four locations along a 120-meter strike have returned 2.45 percent, 2.51 percent, 2.76 percent and 3.74 percent lithium oxide; six of eight rock sawn channel samples have returned 1.16 percent, 1.34 percent, 1.87 percent, 1.90 percent, 1.93 percent and 2.30 percent lithium oxide.MK3 (located ~4.5 kilometers east northeast of MK 1) is a prominent 15- to 20-meter wide, white pegmatite exposure traced near continuously along strike for approximately 130 meters; visually identified 2 to 30-centimeter long spodumene crystals are present throughout the exposure; 14 of 17 samples collected from the pegmatite have returned over 1 percent lithium oxide, including five representative grab samples returning 5.25 percent, 4.08 percent, 2.71 percent, 1.92 percent and 1.10 percent lithium oxide; a composite rock sawn channel sample from MK3 returned 2.10 percent lithium oxide over 4 meters; two additional composite 4-metre channel samples from MK3 have returned 1.49 percent lithium oxide and 1.43 percent lithium oxide.
Lac de Gras Lithium Project
The LDG Project consists of 149,000 hectares of mineral leases and claims. The latest owner of the Ekati Mine, Burgundy Diamond Mines, received the LDG JV interest as part of their 2023 Ekati purchase but elected to focus solely on mining and not to continue participating in the JV. North Arrow announced the acquisition of the 100 percent interest in LDG on June 29, 2023, and in October 2023, mapping of new spodumene pegmatite mineralization was completed in the SD2 area at the LDG Project.
Project Highlights:
Spodumene-bearing muscovite-tourmaline pegmatite showings were re-‘discovered’ on an archived Geological Survey of Canada paper map covering NAR’s LDG Diamond property area originally mapped in the 1940s.Acquired 100 percent interest in the project from Arctic Canadian Diamond Corporation (now owned by Burgundy Diamond Mines) on June 29, 2023; new LDG Lithium Project has camp in place and comes already permitted for drilling and sampling.Two short field work programs conducted in July and September 2023 located, sampled and expanded on the showings.Current focus is on SD2 and SD4 lithium pegmatites and their surrounding areas; SD2 and SD4 are interpreted as steeply dipping (75 to 80 degrees) feldspar-quartz-muscovite-spodumene pegmatites, estimated at 10 to 20 meters wide and over 400 meters in strike length.July 2023 grab sampling from the SD4 spodumene pegmatite returned from 1.10 percent lithium oxide to 2.17 percent lithium oxide; seven of eight rock sawn channel samples from the SD2 spodumene pegmatite have returned from 0.40 percent lithium oxide to 1.70 percent lithium oxide.September 2023 program included ground magnetic, high-resolution drone imagery and bedrock mapping surveys in the areas of the SD2 (see image below) and SD4 pegmatites; aided interpretation and modelling, including planning for exploration drilling in 2024.
Bathurst Inlet Lithium
The Bathurst Inlet Lithium project encompasses both mapped and interpreted pegmatite intrusives all located within 9 kilometers of tidewater at Bathurst Inlet. The project’s southernmost mineral claim is within 12 kilometers of Sabina Gold and Silver’s Port Facility, while North Arrow’s Oro Hope Bay Gold Property is roughly 80 kilometers to the northeast.
North Arrow acquired a 100-percent interest in the Bathurst Inlet Property in February 2023 and has yet to assess the project for spodumene and related lithium mineralization.
Baffin Island
Baffin Island’s staked targets are located within 12 kilometers of tidewater. They are also in an area where granite pegmatites with widths in the tens of meters have been mapped by government geologists. North Arrow has not yet announced its plans for the project.
Other Projects: Gold and Diamond
Oro (Hope Bay)
North Arrow’s Hope Bay is a 100-percent owned, 4,130-hectare gold project located just three kilometers north of Agnico Eagle’s renowned Doris Mine. North Arrow has confirmed near-surface gold mineralization over a strike of 300 meters, with plans for further drilling.
Naujaat
0.31-carat fancy color, rectangular radiant-cut diamond.
The original rough carat weight was 0.85 carats and the diamond was recovered from the 2021 bulk sample of the Q1-4 kimberlite at the Naujaat Project.
The Naujaat project houses the largest diamondiferous kimberlite pipe in the Eastern Canadian Arctic along with a rare population of yellow to orange diamonds. Thus far, North Arrow has identified a total of eight kimberlite pipes and associated dykes.
Pikoo
Located in east-central Saskatchewan, the Pikoo claims were first staked in 2011 based on the results of regional diamond exploration programs. Pikoo’s most significant discovery to date, Kimberlite PK150, is roughly 10 to 15 meters wide with a 150-meter strike length traceable to 199 meters.
Loki
Situated close to Canada’s first two diamond mines, Loki covers 13,898 hectares. North Arrow has identified multiple unsourced indicator trains in the property’s north and south, including the historic South Coppermine indicator train.
Management Team
Ken Armstrong – President, CEO and Director
Ken Armstrong brings over 27 years of experience in the exploration industry. Through this period, Armstrong has been involved in diamond, lithium, gold and nickel exploration in North America. From 2008 to 2010 he was involved in North Arrow’s lithium spodumene exploration in North Carolina and northern Canada.
Armstrong also serves as a director of Cornish Metals and a director and current past-president of the Northwest Territories & Nunavut Chamber of Mines. He is a registered professional geoscientist in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Province of Ontario. Armstrong directs North Arrow’s diamond exploration programs, reviewing all information of a scientific or technical nature related to the company’s projects before publication.
Wayne Johnstone – Chief Financial Officer
Wayne Johnstone graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1977 with a Bachelor of Commerce (finance) and in 1979 earned his chartered accountant designation. He has over 30 years of financial experience with public and private companies. During the past 25 years, Johnstone has focused on mineral exploration and development stage public companies throughout North and South America. More recently, he was the CFO of New Dimension Resources and of Creston Moly.
Brenda Nowak – Corporate Secretary
Brenda Nowak has over 30 years of experience in the securities legal industry. In addition to her role with North Arrow, she is also the corporate secretary for Cornish Metals (formerly Strongbow Exploration) and NGEx Minerals. In the past, she held this same position for Filo Mining, International Northair Mines, New Dimension Resources, Troon Ventures, Stornoway Diamond, Capstone Mining, Creston Moly, Kaminak Gold, Bluestone Resources, Kivalliq Energy and West Melville Metals.
Prior to her career as a corporate secretary in the junior resource sector, Nowak was a paralegal with DuMoulin Black LLP and held positions with Nexus Venture Capital Lawyers and Aber Diamond Corporation.
Eira Thomas – Advisor
Eira Thomas brings more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry, including 16 years with Aber Diamond Corporation following their discovery of the Diavik diamond mine where she served in ever-increasing roles from initial discovery as a geologist to vice-president exploration and ultimately, director of the board. She was co-founder of Stornoway Diamond, serving first as CEO and then as executive chairman. There, she led the acquisition of the Renard diamond deposit which subsequently became Quebec’s first diamond mine.
In 2007, Thomas founded Lucara with partners Lukas Lundin and Catherine McLeod Seltzer and in February 2018, adding to her directorship, became the president and CEO of the company. Before this, Thomas served as CEO of Kaminak Gold, which was acquired by Goldcorp in 2016 for $520 Million. She is also a director of Suncor Energy.
Allison Rippin-Armstrong – Advisor
Allison Rippin-Armstrong has over 20 years of experience in corporate social responsibility and environmental compliance, having worked for and advised resource companies, Indigenous and Territorial governments and non-government organizations. Rippin-Armstrong has been involved with projects throughout northern Canada including Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan.
Rippin-Armstrong was also responsible for the environmental, permitting and community relations programs at Kaminak Gold before its acquisition by Goldcorp in July 2016. She is currently self-employed at ARA Environmental Consulting Services Ltd.
Robin Hopkins – Advisor
Robin Hopkins is a professional geologist with more than 20 years of exploration experience throughout Canada, Greenland and southern Africa. Hopkins served as vice-president of exploration for Stornoway Diamond Corporation from 2006 to 2019, previously serving as the chief technical officer of Stornoway’s predecessor company, Stornoway Ventures, from 2003 until 2006.
Between 2000 and 2004, Hopkins was vice-president of exploration for Navigator Exploration, and before that a key member of Aber Resources’ exploration team that discovered the Diavik Diamond Project pipes in the Northwest Territories in 1994. He is a graduate of the University of Waterloo (H.B.A.Sc. Earth sciences) and a qualified person under NI 43-101.
D. Grenville Thomas – Chairman
Grenville Thomas has over 50 years of experience in the mining industry, during which time he has built an impressive track record of discovery, most notably the world-class Diavik Diamond Mine and the Thor Lake rare metals deposit, both in the Northwest Territories.
He was the founder (and held positions of chairman, president and director) of Aber Resources (now Arctic Canadian Diamond Co.) and is currently a director of Cornish Metals and chairman and director of Westhaven Gold Corp.
Thomas’s discoveries have earned him many honors, including ‘PDAC Prospector of the Year’ for 1999 and ‘Man of the Year’ by The Northern Miner newspaper (2001). In January 2009, Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame located at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
Christopher Jennings – Director
Dr. Christopher Jennings brings to the board extensive experience in diamond, gold and base metal exploration and development throughout the world. Jennings was the founder of SouthernEra Diamonds Inc., served as a consultant to Aber Resources and has held positions with numerous companies including International Corona, BP Minerals (Canada) and Falconbridge.
Blair Murdoch – Director
Blair Murdoch has 30 years’ experience in senior management in both private and public companies, with expertise encompassing sales, marketing and finance. He is the chairman of Option-NFA, a company traded on the TSX Venture Exchange and he holds a BSc. (mathematics) from the University of British Columbia
Torrie Chartier – Director
Torrie Chartier has over 20 years of experience as a diamond exploration geologist. In the 1980 and 90s, Chartier worked as an independent consultant and diamond geologist in exploration projects for various junior companies and was directly involved in the discovery of kimberlites in Michigan, NWT, Nunavut, and Greenland. She presently serves as CFO and a director of Uravan Minerals, a Calgary-based junior uranium explorer.
In March 2022, Elbow River Helicopters, the company she formed with her partner, Bruce Holloway, was sold to Blackcomb Helicopters. She has remained on as regional manager of business development.