Ontario program funds Aussie lithium explorer Pioneer

The Ontario government is helping fund Australia-listed Pioneer Lithium (ASX: PLN) for its Root Lake project in the province’s northwest. 

The Ontario Junior Exploration Program, which pays up to half of eligible exploration costs to a limit of $200,000, granted $180,916 to Perth, Australia-based Pioneer for expenses from April last year to mid-February, the company said on Wednesday. 

“The program is a vital part of financing and fostering early exploration projects and allows us to further advance our exploration activities,” chairman Robert Martin said in a release. “Funds will be allocated to summer field work and maiden drilling campaigns.”

Pioneer is preparing a drill program for Root after receiving a second exploration permit for the project, the company said in January. Fieldwork identified targets in both permitted areas, it said. 

The company has been extending its footprint in Canada, where it now holds three exploration projects across the provinces of Ontario and Quebec besides Root. These are Lauri Lake, a 106 sq.-km parcel near the TransCanada Highway just north of Lake Superior and 70 km east of the town of Geraldton; LaGrande, which is about 47 sq. km located east of James Bay in Quebec; and its most recent acquisition, Benham, near Kenora in northwest Ontario. 

Bought in November, Benham has numerous pegmatite outcrops including a 40-metre long mineralized prominence, Pioneer said in January. 

Brazil project

The company is applying for 730 sq. km of tenements to form the Verde Valor rare earth elements project in Bahia state, Brazil, it said last week. It’s found elevated thorium levels in a formation that bodes well, the company said. 

Lithium prices hit rock bottom last year and are struggling to make a significant recovery. This is partly because miners, refiners, and auto makers are still dealing with an excess stockpile that is causing the current oversupply of the battery metal. 

Despite some projects and mines being affected by the lithium price collapse, several major producers are determined to continue expanding, adding to the uncertainty about when prices will eventually recover.

Shares in Pioneer Lithium closed at A14¢ (12¢) on Wednesday in Sydney, valuing the company at A$4.1 million. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of A11¢ to A45¢.