Frontier Lithium stock jumps as new drill results extend Spark deposit

EXPLORATION | Drilling aimed at upgrading resource at Ontario project

BY JACKSON CHEN

Frontier Lithium (TSXV: FL; US-OTC: LITOF) shares rose more than 12% on Feb. 9 following the release of additional drill results from the Spark pegmatite showing its connection to the NW zone at depth at the PAK lithium project in northwestern Ontario.

Highlights include DDH PL-094-22, which cut 125.9 metres of pegmatite averaging 1.51% lithium oxide (Li2O), the company said in a news release. The hole was designed to define the western extent of the Spark pegmatite and to target the recently discovered NW Spark zone. The hole was the first indication the NW zone is connected to the main Spark pegmatite at depth.

DDH PL-098-22 intersected 398.25 metres of pegmatite averaging 1.88% Li2O, and was designed to follow up on the results from PL-094-22. It confirmed that the NW zone is connected to the main Spark orebody at depth.

DDH PL-099-22 cut 243 metres of pegmatite averaging 1.58% Li2O, extending the NW zone further towards the west. It was designed to follow up on the results from PL-098-22.

“Now that all the results have been received and processed, we can say that our goal of upgrading inferred has been achieved, and the Spark pegmatite continues to increase in size particularly with the intersections in holes PL-09822 and PL-099-22,” Garth Drever, VP exploration of Frontier Lithium said in the release.

“These two holes, which are 140 metres apart, have confirmed that the new northwest zone discovered in February 2022 is connected to the main zone and contains significant high-grade zones of 2-3% Li2O. This zone will certainly be explored during the 2023 drill program at Spark.”

Canaccord Genuity analyst Katie Lachapelle raised Canaccord’s target price on Frontier shares to $4.75, citing the potential for its shares to re-rate this year due to such catalysts as an updated resource, pre-feasibility study, ongoing drill results at Spark or preliminary drill results at the Bolt pegmatite, just southeast of Spark.

The new results consist of the remaining seven drill holes from the company’s latest drill program that began in May and ended in October. A total of 15,984 metres of drilling in 50 holes were completed last year.

The drilling was aimed at converting the inferred resource within the Spark deposit to the indicated category in preparation for a pre-feasibility study on PAK.

The latter half of the program included geotechnical drilling for ground control and pit design purposes as well as step-out drilling to define the eastern and western extents of the orebody.

Spark represents one of several spodumene-bearing deposits delineated by Frontier Lithium on the PAK property, which contains one of North America’s highest-grade lithium resources, encompassing close to 270 sq. km that are largely unexplored.

The largest deposit on the property, the Spark pegmatite, hosts 14.4 million indicated tonnes averaging 1.4% Li2O and 18.1 million inferred tonnes averaging 1.37% Li2O.

Shares of Frontier Lithium jumped 12% on the news to reach $2.97 apiece at press time. The stock has traded in a 52-week window of $1.30 and $3.89, giving the company a market capitalization of $667.6 million. TNM