The Project is in the north-eastern part of the Superior Province. It lies within the Lower Eastmain Group of the Eastmain greenstone belt, which consists predominantly of amphibolite grade mafic to felsic metavolcanic rocks, metasedimentary rocks and minor gabbroic intrusions.

The property is underlain by the Auclair Formation, consisting mainly of paragneisses of probable sedimentary origin which surround the pegmatite dykes to the northwest and southeast. Volcanic rocks of the Komo Formation occur to the north of the pegmatite dykes. The greenstone rocks are surrounded by Mesozonal to catazonal migmatite and gneiss. All rock units are Archean in age.

The pegmatites delineated on the property to date are oriented in a generally parallel direction to each other and are separated by barren host rock of sedimentary origin (metamorphosed to amphibolite facies). They form irregular dykes attaining up to 60?m in width and over 200?m in length. The pegmatites crosscut the regional foliation at a high angle, striking to the south-southwest and dipping moderately to the west-northwest.

Spodumene is the principal source of lithium found at the Project. Spodumene is a relatively rare pyroxene that is composed of lithium (8.03%Li2O), aluminium (27.40%Al2O3), and silica (64.57%SiO2). It is found in lithium rich granitic pegmatites, with its occurrence associated with quartz, microcline, albite, muscovite, lepidolite, tourmaline and beryl.

The James Bay Lithium deposit that falls into the Mineral Resource Estimate is approximately 2.2km long, 300m wide and has been defined to a depth of 300m. Sporadic pegmatite intersections in exploration drilling and outcrop continue to the east for an additional 2km.

The pegmatite deposit will be mined by conventional open pit methods. All material will require drilling and blasting and will be removed using mining excavators and haul trucks.

The slope angles used in the pit design were based on results of geotechnical investigation and lab results that were analysed as listed below:
• Nominal face height of 20 m (double benched 10 m-high benches);
• Bench face angle of 75° for in-situ rock material;
• Berm widths of 9 m;
• Additional geotechnical berms of 20 m were included in the central portions of JB2 of the design in sections of the pit walls with elevation differences greater than 120 m between ramps.

The preliminary pit design extends approximately 2 km NW/SE along strike of the pegmatite mineralization and has an average width of 500 m. The design is divided into three areas, labelled JB1, JB2 and JB3. JB2 is the deepest portion of the pit at 260 m. Depth for JB1 is at 175 m and for JB3 at approximately 170 m.

The open pit is planned to be sequenced and scheduled utilizing phased pits to enable a smooth transition of lower waste stripping during the initial years of production with a gradual increase later in the mine life. Overburden and topsoil material will be trucked to an overburden stockpile. Waste rock will be hauled to the multiple Waste Rock Tailings Storage Facilities (“WRTSF”) and ROM Feed ore will be hauled to the ROM pad, located to the northeast of the pit.

Grade control will be applied for maintaining feed quality. Grade control is proposed to be accomplished through blast pattern design, mining direction method and in-field sample collection.

Explosive products and blasting accessories will be provided by a third-party contractor who will be responsible for the storage on site and delivery of these products to the drill hole. This contractor will also supply a magazine for blasting caps and accessories and a separate magazine for boosters and packaged explosive products.

The project basis of design is for 2.0 million tonnes (Mt) of concentrator feed annually. The life-of-mine (“LOM”) plan has been scheduled using annual increments. The LOM schedule covers approximately 18.75 years of production with 131.7 Mt of waste rock, 5.6 Mt of overburden, and 37.2 Mt of ROM Feed ore for a total of 168.9 Mt of material mined. The average strip ratio for the LOM plan is 3.54:1.

Year-2 and Year-1 (pre-production period) will have no mill operation and all ore generated will be stockpiled and rehandled during production years. Pre-production years prioritise waste to use as construction material and to ease access to ore in production years, thus reducing the rehandle required.

Site preparation including logging, clearing, grubbing and peat/topsoil removal will occur during the construction phase (Year -2 and Year -1), in advance of the concentrator commissioning. These activities will be required within the footprint of the pit and will be conducted by a third-party contractor. These activities will take place in the preproduction period with adequate areas cleared to support five years of production.

Surface mining equipment requirements are based on mining 10 m benches. Conventional excavator and truck fleet are sized to meet the planned tonnage requirements to feed the concentrator at 2?Mtpa. The same haul trucks will transport tailings from the plant to the proposed WRSTF as well as transporting waste rock directly to the WRTSF.

Crushing Circuit
The ROM ore will be fed to the three-stage crushing plant consisting of a primary jaw crusher, a secondary crusher and tertiary crusher. These crushers combined with two double-deck sizing screens will produce a crushed product which will be all less than 15mm to be stored in a covered crushed ore stockpile.

The process design is based on an annual throughput of 2Mt of ore to produce a final product grade of 6.0% Li2O, with operational flexibility to increase recovery by reducing concentrate grade to 5.6% Li2O.

Processing involves a conventional three-stage crushing circuit, followed by a DMS plant. Other sub processes include:
• Dewatering and dry stack tailings disposal system (combined with waste rock disposal);
• water, air and ancillary services; and
• spodumene concentrate stockpile and dispatch system.

DMS Plant
The crushed ore is reclaimed from the stockpile and fed in a controlled manner by vibrating feeders and a reclaim conveyor to the DMS plant. Ahead of the DMS is a sizing screen, with a top deck of 4 mm and a 1 mm bottom deck which removes the fines (- 1 mm) material which is sent to the tails dewatering section for disposal. Prior to feeding the DMS cyclones, the crushed ore will be mixed with a ferrosilicon (FeSi) slurry, which acts ........