| DISCLAIMER: This editorial is disseminated on behalf of Lift Power Corp | | SPECIAL ALERT Marin Katusa just flew thousands of miles to Northern Canada with a film crew to view this Project Yellowknife firsthand. “What I saw with my own eyes surpassed my expectations.” Full video + interview coming first thing tomorrow to Investment Insights readers. | | | Dear Reader,
Centuries ago, on the island of Cyprus, nuggets of copper could be picked up off the ground.
Those days are obviously gone. Any economic copper close to the surface has long since been mined.
But for lithium—the copper of the 21st century—that’s not true.
Because near the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories lies a property with massive amounts of lithium directly above the surface.
That’s a gamechanger in the mining business.
Because while most lithium companies with such grade and size have deposits under lakes that have to be dewatered, or are hundreds of meters below the earth’s surface…
This lithium can be quarried—making it have a much lower cost than its peer group.
Lithium is also contained in lithium pegmatites.
That’s a fancy way to say it makes for easier, faster, and lower-cost mining than lithium obtained from clays or brines.
And these aren’t fist-sized clumps of lithium spodumene like the copper in Cyprus.
They’re streaks so big they can be seen from the sky…
In fact, here is the picture I (Marin Katusa) personally took flying 500 meters above the project and we could see the outcropping lithium pegmatites from the helicopter. | | There are hundreds of lithium projects all over the world—and hundreds more jump on the bandwagon every time lithium shoots up.
But the ones worth investing in are the ultra-rare low-cost assets with incredible scale, meaning they have to be big.
Those are the ones that can make a killing long-term.
The Yellowknife Lithium Project, owned by Li-FT Power (US OTC: LIFFF | TSVX: LIFT) is one to put on your radar right now. | | How Li-FT ended up with the Yellowknife Lithium Project is one of the best uses of OPM (Other People’s Money) to de-risk a project I’ve ever seen.
The Yellowknife Pegmatite Province—as it was named then—was discovered around the end of World War II.
It was explored off and on through the ‘80s, with Canadian Superior Exploration Limited conducting mapping, spodumene crystal counts, sampling, and drilling.
In 1978, CSEL estimated Yellowknife to hold 37 million tonnes of lithium.
Then CSEL was bought by Mobil, yes, the Mobil which eventually became ExxonMobil and then just Exxon the largest oil producer listed in the US.
(By the way, Exxon is very bullish on lithium long term.)
In 1987, Equinox Resources collected bulk samples and performed initial metallurgical testing. And then, Equinox was bought out.
Interesting patterns of the two previous owners of this asset were bought out.
The project lay dormant for 35 years. Low lithium prices and a lack of infrastructure meant little incentive to develop it.
But both prices and infrastructure have changed dramatically from the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Seven of the deposits have a highway built directly to them now, with easy access to nearby railroads and skilled labor. | | And due to changes in technology, the value of lithium has risen dramatically.
Li-FT acquired the project in late 2022, with decades of de-risking (OPM: Other People’s Money) where tens of millions were spent and Li-FT received all those benefits for free.
With the outcrop that can be seen on satellites and helicopters, all Li-FT had to do was fire up the drills and prove its depth.
It won’t be long until they get the third confirmation to the multibillion-dollar question:
How big is the potential lithium motherlode underneath Yellowknife?
Mines Are Only Drill-Deep
In the summer of 2023, Li-FT began a massive, aggressive drilling spree of the most promising pegmatites in the project.
It drilled over 150,000 feet (nearly 50,000 meters) to turn a 2D map of obvious lithium into a 3D map of potentially profitable lithium.
As expected, given the project’s history, initial results were incredible—the subsurface looks like the surface. High-grade lithium spodumene over significant widths and to depth has been found at every pegmatite drilled.
For months, Li-FT published drilling results every single week.
Leadership is excited by what they’ve seen, calling it “really successful.”
Now, the drilling program is done. The results are in.
And Li-FT knows what they’re sitting on.
“We know what we got and they're very good.” – Li-FT Senior Vice President of Geology David Smithson
They’re nearly ready to release their maiden resource estimate any week now.
Expectations are as high as the risk.
And it could set up Yellowknife as an attractive hard-rock lithium asset in North America.
But they’re not just publishing a massive resource estimate so they can raise cash. Even with lithium near historic lows, Li-FT is moving at lightning speed to take this toward full-scale production.
Because they can.
By the time the market reaches equilibrium, it’ll already be too late to begin building a lithium mine. Instead, you want to have already built it, paid off capex, and won market share—and be raking in profit. - When lithium begins to recover, the first and strongest to market will win.
So after seven decades of the project lying dormant, what suddenly matters is how fast Li-FT can de-risk Yellowknife and get it up and running.
They’ve got a narrow window to advance the deposit...
Which starts with a Mineral resource estimate, that can attract the attention of the largest miners and users of lithium globally.
I have personally spoken to the executives of some of the largest mining companies in the world who are looking for lithium off takes, and their comments on are very positive on Li-FTs asset.
The Summer of Separation
The strategy is to put as much ground as possible between Li-FT and the competition by the end of this year: - Preliminary metallurgy studies are in, and they appear to be “very positive.”
- Environmental work is already underway, so the two years of baseline data is in the process of being collected.
- The indigenous community has been contacted, and the Canadian government has indicated willingness to help accelerate development.
- Most importantly, a mineral resource estimate above 50 million tonnes will attract global attention from the biggest mining companies.
Nearly all of these—proved-out scale, metallurgy work, community engagement—are set to come through about the same time.
That instantly makes Li-FT 10x more attractive to prospective investors—and increases the possibility of a buyout.
In all aspects of its operations, Li-FT is setting itself up to capture market share with their high-grade, large-scale North America-based lithium.
While the entire industry is a wreck... with potential competitors going bankrupt left and right... and the price of lithium creeping lower…
Li-FT has managed to drill over 150,000 feet, advance the mineral resource estimate, environmental studies and start the discussions with the local community on the positive impacts of the project.
When the price of lithium does find equilibrium, this company will be well on the way to differentiate itself:
As an advanced, large high-grade asset with near-term production capability in a politically stable jurisdiction with a rule of law in place.
Regards,
Marin Katusa and the KR Special Situations Team | | | |
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