Zacks Small Cap Research – FMST: Foremost Lithium is Conducting an Ongoing Winter Drilling Program at Zoro Property: positive assay results at Dyke 1 extends known mineralization at depth. Recent private placements provide gross proceeds of over CAD$3.0 million. – Technologist
By Steven Ralston, CFA
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EXECUTIVE OUTLINE OF RECENT EVENTS
Winter Drill Program at Zoro Property (in progress)
A 30-hole (7,500m) winter diamond drill program at the Zoro Property commenced during the first week of February 2024. To date, the company has reported the completion of 10 drill holes (approximately 2,100m), along with select assay results. Two drill holes intersected mineralized lithium zones at depth in an area previously unexplored, roughly between 15m-100m below prior drill holes. The cumulative length of intersected lithium mineralization was 25.92m. In addition, the thicknesses (length of intersections) exceeded expectations.
Financings
Between March and April 2024, two tranches of a private placement closed, which in total consisted of 436,122 Flow-Through Units and 152,941 Common Stock Units. Total gross proceeds were CAD$3,084,397.
In late February 2024, Foremost Lithium (NASDAQ:FMST) submitted a $10 million proposal to the Government of Canada’s CMIF (Critical Mineral Infrastructure Fund) to fund the construction of a 9.5km road between the company’s Zoro and Jean Lake properties, along with a connection to an existing roadway.
RECENT EVENTS
Winter Drill Program at Zoro Property (in progress)
Management commenced a 30-hole (7,500m) winter diamond drill program at the Zoro Property during the first week of February 2024, beginning with drilling at the two most prominent dykes (Dyke 1 and Dyke 8). These two dykes remain open at depth and along strike. The drill program includes both exploratory & infill drilling and is being conducted under a multi-year work permit which is valid until April 26, 2026. The 2 1/4-year work permit allows management to cost-effectively implement future exploration plans. To date, the company has reported the completion of 10 drill holes (approximately 2,100m), along with select assay results.
Utilizing a drill rig and crew provided by Rodren Drilling, the initial six (6) holes (FL 24-01 – FL 24-06) targeted areas around Dyke 8, which has a defined strike over 120m with widths between 5m-to-15m and a depth of 157m. Dyke 8 is open at depth and along strike. In addition, there may have a potential relationship with Dyke 1 along strike.
Assay results from drill cores from the Dyke 8 area confirmed the presence spodumene-bearing pegmatite in two of the six drill holes (FL 24-001 & FL 24-002). The following four (4) holes (FL 24-007 – FL 24-010) targeted Dyke 1, which currently has a defined strike of 265m with widths up to 40m and to a depth of 265m. Dyke 1 hosts the company’s Inferred mineral resource that is estimated to contain 9,700 tons Li2O and 24,000 tons of Li2O3 (lithium carbonate) at a cut-off of 0.3% Li2O. Still open at depth and along strike, Dyke 1 is a lithium-bearing spodumene pegmatite that is partially outcropped at surface.
On March 27, 2024, Foremost Lithium provided an initial assessment of the drill program at Dyke 1, highlighting that 2 drill holes (FL 24-009 & FL 24-010) intercepted a cumulative length of 32.53m and 14.19m of spodumene-bearing pegmatite, respectively.
On April 8, 2024, the company provided assay results from drill holes FL 24-009 and FL 24-010. The results confirmed the presence of lithium mineralization over a cumulative length of 25.92m at depth in a previously unexplored area.
Highlighted intersected of spodumene-bearing pegmatite were:
o Drill hole FL24-009 7.96m (1.03% Li2O) starting at a depth of 233.04m
o Drill hole FL24-009 5.02m (1.52% Li2O) starting at a depth of 235.98m
o Drill hole FL24-010 9.88m (1.09% Li2O) starting at a depth of 77.57m
o Drill hole FL24-010 5.37m (1.34% Li2O) starting at a depth of 180.73m
The primary purpose of the drill program is to expand the resource estimate of Dyke 1. Drill holes FL 24-009 & FL 24-010 intersected mineralized lithium zones at depth in an area previously unexplored, roughly between 15m-100m below prior drill holes that detected mineralization. In addition, the thicknesses (length of intersections) exceeded expectations.
Management also desires to test for strike extensions of the Dyke 1 spodumene-bearing pegmatite, specifically where a geological review by Dahrouge Geological Consulting has identified step-out targets to test continuity of Dyke 1’s mineralization to the southeast. Additional drilling is planned (at least 5,400m in the current program) to better define and further expand the known zones of lithium mineralization, particularly at Dyke 1.
The Zoro drill program is being partially funded by the $300,000 grant awarded by The Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF) in January 2024 and private placements of Units which closed in March and April of 2024. In addition, up to CDN$3.0 million in 12-18-month credit financing commitments have been secured in arrangements with some of the company’s vendors to fund the drill programs at Zoro and Jean Lake.
Recent Financings
Non-brokered Private Placements of Flow-Through and Common Share Units
On March 13, 2024, the first tranche of private placements closed which consisted of 188,651 Flow-Through Units at CAD$5.88 each and 152,941 Common share Units at CAD$3.40 per Unit. Gross proceeds were CAD$1,629,267.
Each Flow-Through Unit consisted of one (1) Flow-Through common share and one (1) warrant for a common share exercisable at $4.00 per share until March 13, 2026. Each Common share Unit consisted of one (1) common share and one (1) warrant for a common share exercisable at $4.00 per share until March 13, 2026. The gross proceeds from Flow-Through Units will be used for Canadian exploration expenses.
On April 29, 2024, the second tranche closed which consisted of consisted of 247,471 Flow-Through Units at CAD$5.88 each. Gross proceeds were CAD$1,455,129. Each Flow-through Unit consisted of one (1) Flow-Through common share and one (1) warrant for a common share exercisable at $4.00 per share until April 29, 2026.
Grant Received from Manitoba Mineral Development Fund
On January 4, 2024, Foremost Lithium announced the receipt of a CDN$300,000 grant from the Government of Manitoba’s Mineral Development Fund (MMDF). This is the company’s third CDN$300,000 grant from the MMDF and is being used to help fund the winter drill program at the Zoro Project. The MMDF awards these grants to stimulate exploration activity for essential minerals (like lithium), thereby sponsoring the development of the mining industry in Manitoba, while contributing to job creation and promoting economic growth in the province.
Other Financing News
On February 28, 2024, Foremost Lithium announced that a $10 million proposal was submitted to the Government of Canada’s CMIF (Critical Mineral Infrastructure Fund), $1.5 billion fund to support clean energy &transportation infrastructure projects that promote the development critical mineral projects in Canada. Foremost applied under Stream 1, which supports pre-construction and project development activities for mineral projects. Foremost Lithium’s proposal is to seek funding for an enhanced transportation corridor to the Snow Lake region, specifically, the construction of a 9.5km road between the company’s Zoro and Jean Lake properties and connecting it to an existing roadway.
Investor Outreach
Thus far during 2024, the company has participated
o in a panel presentation at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference on January 21st
o at PDAC on March 5th & 6th in Toronto and
o at the 2024 Planet Micro-Cap Showcase in Las Vegas on May 1st
Winter Drill Program at Jean Lake Property
On December 19, 2023, the company announced that 15-hole (2,500m) winter diamond drill program at its Jean Lake Lithium/Gold Property. Soon thereafter in early January 2024, Foremost Lithium received a work permit, which is valid until April 30, 2026. The 2 1/4-year work permit allows management to cost-effectively implement future exploration plans.
The upcoming drill program at the Jean Lake Lithium/Gold Property will target the B-1 & B-2 spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes to test the extent of mineralization laterally and down plunge with the goal of better understanding the emplacement mechanisms. There also will be drilling that will test for additional gold mineralization at depth based on the eight (8) drill holes that intersected gold mineralization at depths up to 110m below surface during the drill program that was conducted between December 2022 and April 2023.
Valuation
There are over 30 junior mining lithium companies with spodumene deposits in the Tier 1 mining jurisdictions of the U.S. and Canada. Many of these companies are in the very early stages of exploration (geophysics, sampling, mapping, desk top studies, etc.) without having yet put drill to ground.
In an effort to be selective, we tightened the field to companies which have reduced exploratory risk by advancing the hard rock lithium project(s) beyond the very early stage to a certain point, namely with 100%-owned properties having discovered over 15 confirmed spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes, completed an MRE and conducted metallurgical studies that demonstrate that the ore is amenable to produce battery-grade lithium concentrate. Some of those companies are Patriot Battery Metals (OTCQX:PMETF), Critical Elements Lithium (OTCQX:CRECF), Snow Lake Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ:LITM) and Foremost Lithium Resource & Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:FMST). It is noteworthy to observe that all have been uplisted to either NASDAQ or the highest tier of OTC markets, the OTCQX. Three juniors that have at least drilled their Canadian hard rock properties were also added: Power Metals Corp. (OTCQB:PWRMF), Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (OTCQX:RCKTF) and Winsome Resources Limited (OTCQB:WRSLF).
Currently, the P/B valuation range of these comparable companies is between 4.8 and 1.1. We believe that Foremost Lithium can attain at least an industry average price-to-book valuation of 3.3 times book, which indicates a target of $6.90 per share.
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