Quebec Pegmatite Shifts to Gold and Critical Minerals Exploration
By Peter Kennedy
Quebec Pegmatite Holdings Corp. [QBC-CSE, WPNNF-OTC Pink] is contemplating a name change to Lafleur Minerals Inc., reflecting a renewed focus on acquiring and exploring gold and critical minerals properties in Quebec’s Abitibi Greenstone Belt.
The proposed named change comes after Quebec Pegmatite was recently granted an option by Abcourt Mines Inc. [ABI-TSXV] to acquire all of Abcourt’s title and interest in a package of claims located approximately 60 kilometres north of the city of Val-d’Or.
The land package, which consists of 141 mineral claims covering approximately 5,579 hectares is located in the Abitibi Greenstone belt and lies adjacent to the Swanson gold deposit, the Abcourt-Barvue base metal mine and the Courville and Jolin gold deposits.
The property claims are thought to contain the same geological stratigraphy that hosts the Swanson gold deposit, which is estimated to host an indicated and inferred in-pit resource of 105,630 ounces, as well as an underground resource of 16,400 ounces (classified as indicated and inferred).
“We are very excited to acquire this claim package from Abcourt in one of the most prolific gold and critical minerals mining districts in Canada and adjacent to the Swanson gold deposit, a resource-stage property with significant gold potential,’’ said Quebec Pegmatite CEO Paul Ténière.
“This region of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt is relatively underexplored and has significant potential for major discoveries through aggressive exploration and drilling programs targeting these major gold-bearing structures and shear zones,’’ he said.
Ténière was named CEO on June 17, 2024, following the resignation of Mike Stier, who remains on the company’s board of directors. Ténière is a professional geologist and an exploration, mining and capital markets expert with 25 years of international experience taking precious metals, critical metals and metallurgical coal deposits from the exploration stage to feasibility and mine development.
“The company is in the process of developing an exploration program [for the optioned Abcourt claims] that will successfully define and target gold-bearing shear zones and includes airborne geophysics, LiDAR, soil/till geochemistry surveys, prospecting and diamond drilling,’’ Ténière said.
Quebec Pegmatite can exercise the option to earn a 100% stake the Abcourt claims by delivering $2 million in cash payments within the next two years, of which 75% can be made via the issuance of common shares. The company also the option to accelerate the completion of the cash payments that are need to exercise the option.
Prior to acquiring the gold claims from Abcourt, Quebec Pegmatite was a privately owned subsidiary of Coloured Ties Capital Inc. [TIE-TSXV, APEOF-OTC PINK, 97A0-FSE]. Following a recent reverse takeover transaction involving a company called First Responder Technologies Inc. and concurrent financings that raised $1.67 million, Coloured Ties holds a 34.5% interest in Quebec Pegmatite which is now listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
The company has subsequently announced plans to raise $1.5 million from a non-brokered private placement offering of up to 5.0 million units priced at 30 cents per unit. The units consist of a common share and a warrant entitling the holder to acquire one common share at an exercise price of 40 cents.
On June 21, 2024, the shares were priced at 35 cents and trade in a 52-week range of 49.5 cents and 0.07, leaving the company with a market cap of roughly $3.5 million, based on 10.1 million shares outstanding.
Aside from the Abcourt option, the company’s key assets were four 100%-owned properties in the lithium exploration regions of James Bay, and Mazerac, Que.
They included the Vieux Comptoir Lithium Project, which spans 170 square kilometres, and is located approximately 45 kilometres east of Patriot Battery Metals Inc.’s [PMET-CSE, PMETF-OTCQB, R9GA-FSE] Corvette Property, where numerous spodumene-bearing pegmatites have been discovered, and recent drilling has returned intersections up to 1.25% Li20 and 194 ppm Ta205 over 58.1 metres.
The property is also approximately 45 kilometres west of ASX-listed Winsome Resources’ Adina project where early- stage exploration has identified outcropping pegmatites across the property.
Quebec Pegmatite has granted Superior Mining International Corp. [SUI-TSXV, SUIFF-OTC, the option to earn a 100% interest in the Vieux Comptoir property. If Superior exercises the option in full and acquires the property, it will grant QPC a 3.0% net smelter return royalty which may be reduced to 1.5% once Superior has made a cash payment of $3.0 million to QPC.
Another key property is the Mazarec Central lithium project, which covers 108 claims (6,262 hectares) and is located about 50 kilometres southwest of Val d’Or, Que., in the midst of several other well-funded public company lithium projects that are being aggressively explored.
The claims are immediately adjacent to claims currently held by Winsome Resources and Vision Lithium Inc. [VLI-TSXV, ABEPF-OTCQB, 1AJ2-FSE].