Nasdaq- and ASX-listed Piedmont Lithium on Wednesday announced a strategic investment in a large prospective lithium project in Newfoundland, Canada.

Piedmont has agreed to pay C$2-million for a 19.9% equity interest in Vinland, a new entity established with Sokoman Minerals (40.1%) and Benton Resources (40.1%).

The company also may earn up to a 62.5% equity interest in Killick Lithium, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vinland Lithium, through a staged investment agreement. Piedmont will be entitled to 100% marketing rights and a right of first refusal on 100% offtake rights to any lithium concentrate produced by the project on a life-of-mine basis at competitive commercial rates.

Geologically, the Killick Lithium property is analogous to the Carolina tin/spodumene belt, which hosts Piedmont’s Carolina Lithium project.

The property totals 950 km² and hosts about 60 km of prospective strike length. Initial prospecting on the property by Benton Resources and Sokoman Minerals in 2021 led to the discovery of the first occurrence of spodumene-bearing pegmatite in Newfoundland.

According to their data, the work to date of Benton Resources and Sokoman Minerals includes 61 exploratory drill holes, 50 of which intersected spodumene-bearing pegmatites. Mineralisation in surface trenching and drilling has now been identified over a strike length of 2.5 km. These early drilling results include multiple intercepts of over 1.0% Li₂O and demonstrate the potential for additional discoveries within the property. Their exploration work in 2023 has identified numerous soil and geophysical anomalies, highlighting high-priority drill targets. The property features excellent infrastructure with close proximity to paved roadways, an electrical substation, and an ice-free, deep-water port.

COO Patrick Brindle said the partnership supports Piedmont’s strategy to grow its hard rock lithium resource base with a focus on large targets in attractive locations and furthers the company’s plans to be a major producer of lithium hydroxide for the North American market.

“The Killick lithium project comprises a vast land package in an attractive jurisdiction. Our team has visited the site on multiple occasions and conducted extensive due diligence. Early exploration results are favourable, and the project’s location is advantageous in terms of infrastructure and logistics,” said Brindle.

“The Vinland Lithium exploration team is highly experienced and will manage all aspects of the exploration programme. While we help fund exploration activities at Killick Lithium, our projects and operations teams remain focused on the ongoing development of our core portfolio, including the producing North American lithium mine in Quebec and our planned operations in Ghana, Tennessee and North Carolina.”