What have been the key developments for Patriot Battery Metals over the past year?

Patriot has been hugely active in the past 12 months, and we have continued our engagement with the downstream industry to demonstrate the scale and quality of the Corvette discovery. In the last decade the focus was on accommodating growth in China, but this is the decade where North America and Europe will hit their stride as lithium raw material demand and EV adoption grow in those jurisdictions, and also as energy storage becomes a bigger part of the economy. Patriot wants to ensure that we are at the front of the queue for developing these new supply chains at the scale at which they are expected to emerge. The Corvette discovery will be significant to help underwrite the raw material supply.

We announced a large maiden resource in August 2023, but have continued with significant drill programs which we expect to translate into both growth in the resource and an upgrade to the resource category. That should allow us to underwrite a first reserve at Corvette and the feasibility that is associated with the development of the CV5 prospect. We submitted CV5’s first round of environmental approval documents in November 2024, and have identified what is required for the ESIA, which we expect to submit in September 2025. The ESIA combined with the feasibility study will ultimately lead to project approval and the start of construction, anticipated for the second half of 2027, with commissioning, hopefully, by the end of 2028. Considering that James Bay has similar geological properties to the Western Pilbara region in Australia, what makes this region attractive for lithium exploration?

Certain pieces of geology in Western Australia led to the emergence of several serious-scale lithium mines, including Pilgangoora, Greenbushes, and Wodgina, which were inspired by the growth in lithium raw materials demand from China. Looking at Québec and the James Bay region, similar characteristics emerge. As with the big Australian mines, the geology at Corvette is exceptional, being very open, allowing the formation of large pegmatites. And it is also fertile in the sense that it is dominated by spodumene and large crystal structures, with these characteristics being important for a successful hard rock lithium mine. What role will Corvette play in the development of a North American lithium supply chain?

China clearly dominates the industry, being in an extremely competitive position with respect to the cost of batteries and EVs. This creates a challenge for the West as our lithium supply chain and EV industry are well behind. The development of a North American supply chain is critically important, and we need to start building downstream facilities locally to support raw material demand for the manufacturing of batteries and EVs. What are the main challenges and opportunities for lithium companies going forward?

The first challenge is getting a mine approved, and that can be extremely difficult. But Québec is one of the best jurisdictions globally to develop a mine. As long as you are a good corporate citizen and are truly engaging with the Cree Nations, it is a partnership that will help you grow your project.

Financing is not as big a challenge as it has been historically when the lithium industry was relatively new and financing mechanisms were not as sophisticated as they are today. Large-scale developments, especially when combining a mine with a chemical facility, require significant capital, but with industry and government being aligned in creating a domestic supply chain for battery raw materials supply, we are seeing lithium and critical mineral companies receiving support and obtaining financing for the development of projects. What are your key priorities for 2024 and beyond, and why is Patriot a great story for investors?

Patriot continues to push the development of the base case at CV5 to demonstrate that there will be a mine that will be producing at scale. We will also continue our exploration activities to grow our already large resource and demonstrate the potential along the Corvette trend. Corvette will play a key part in developing supply chains in North America and Europe. Continuing exploration and demonstrating the potential size of the mine contributes to essential economies of scale and our ability to create repeatable, high-quality concentrate production year-on-year and decade-on-decade, an important inspiration for the chemical investment that is required downstream.