Orford Mining Corp. [ORM-TSXV] shares rallied in active trading Friday after the company said it has identified over 50 high priority targets with lithium pegmatite potential on exploration properties in Nunavik, Que.
The announcement comes days after Orford said it has raised $1.92 million, marking the first tranche of a previously announced $6.2 million non-brokered private placement. The company said Alamos Gold Inc. [AGI-TSX, NYSE] participated in the financing in bid to maintain its 26.2% stake in Orford.
The shares advanced on the news rising 14.3% to 16 cents on volume of over 1.0 million, and now trade in a 52-week range of 26 cents and $0.055.
In advance of its summer lithium exploration program beginning in early July, Orford said it has used available geochemical data, rock mapping and its recent multispectral remote sensing data analysis to identify over 50 high priority target areas that show compelling indicators of lithium bearing pegmatites.
Strong demand for the lithium, a soft silvery metal, is attributed to its key role in the in the production of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in small electronic devices, including smart phones, laptops, and electric vehicles
Lithium is also a key in ingredient used in the production of heat-resistant glass and ceramics, lithium grease lubricants, iron, steel and aluminum.
The main sources of lithium for commercial extraction are localized hardrock pegmatites (igneous rocks of post magmatic fluids) and continental brines (saltwater aquifers). Of the various ores found in pegmatite, spodumene ore is generally the most economically viable source of lithium
“As we embark on our first field program on Orford’s Nunavik Lithium ground, we have added powerful tools to aid our exploration efforts from our recently completed remote sensing project,’’ said Orford President and CEO David Christie.
“The remote sensing, together with in-depth analysis of the available government data has increased the number of lithium-bearing pegmatite targets substantially,’’ he said. “We look forward to reporting our findings as the summer field season gets under way in the coming weeks.’’
Orford is a gold and critical minerals explorer focused on Northern Quebec. Its principal assets are the Qiqavik, West Raglan projects as well as lithium exploration projects consisting of a land package covering over 111,000 hectares in the Cape Smith Belt of Northern Quebec.
The Qiqavik Project hosts several new high-grade gold discoveries along a mineralized trend in excess of 40 kilometres. West Raglan hosts a number of high-grade Raglan-style nickel-copper-platinum group metal discoveries along a 55-kilometre mineralized trend. The lithium exploration properties were acquired in early 2023.
Orford has identified priority targets with lithium pegmatite potential across properties spanning 455 square kilometres. These properties have never been explored for lithium or other minerals, despite showing very anomalous geochemistry in grab samples from government mapping data, and late bottom sediment data.
