Can you give an update on Orford Mining’s activities over the past year?

Since last summer, Orford Mining has staked 455 km2 of ground prospective for lithium, all in the Nunavik area of Northern Québec. We look at our assets in the Nunavik region as one project – consisting of our West Raglan nickel project, Qiqavik gold project, and our new lithium projects – as we have one camp, one airstrip, and we service all these projects from one place. The lithium project is exciting, and we had the first-mover advantage as we were the first people to stake claims for lithium in the area. To date, we have staked 19 individual properties and defined available government geochemical data with multispectral remote sensing data analysis to identify over 50 high-priority target areas that show compelling indicators for lithium-bearing pegmatites. We will start mapping and sampling in the next couple of weeks, and if we find a pegmatite that looks good, we will drill it this summer, as we have a drill at the Qiqavik project. It is greatly beneficial that our land package is located approximately 75 km from a deep sea port at Deception Bay which operates year-round.

How do you forecast 2023 to continue unfolding for Orford?

Orford is focused on pushing Nunavik Lithium forward as fast as possible, but all our projects are moving ahead. We are going to spend more money at Qiqavik than we will at Nunavik Lithium as the lithium project is at an earlier stage, but I believe our chances for discovery at the lithium projects are extremely good as the ground has never been explored, and it has known lithium anomalies.

At Qiqavik, we will be conducting a RAB drilling program, drilling the high-grade gold targets across the property. We got the best glacial expertise in the country to help us reinterpret our glacial and structural data, and he believes that there has been little movement in the boulders at the surface and that we should be drilling right underneath them. This is why we are using a RAB drill, as it is lightweight, can drill extremely fast at a hole a day, and will be able to test a significant number of targets.

Can you present the capital structure of the company?

Orford currently has approximately 180 million shares outstanding, we have warrants and options, and the company has about US$2.5 million in the bank. We are currently raising funds and recently closed the first round and will close the second round in the next couple of weeks. There maybe will be a third close as the market is currently tough. Alamos Gold is a 26% shareholder in Orford.

Which commodity or project do you see taking the Orford story even further?

Orford recently completed a drill program at our Joutel Eagle project in the Abitibi region where we believe we have outlined a mineralized gold body in the South Gold Zone that is approximately 300 meters long and it has good continuity both at depth and along strike. We will conduct a drilling program next winter to define our findings better and hopefully get to a resource by mid-2024 to put value on the project.

Orford is also extremely excited about the Nunavik Lithium project as it is new, interesting, and it is virgin ground, and we believe the potential there is huge. If we are successful with the lithium project, at some time, we will look at making the story simpler and create a critical minerals company and gold company separate from each other.

What role will Québec play in a successful energy transition?

Québec has always been pro-mining, more so than any other province. They have funds and systems in place to help you finance your company, stake your claim, and they tell you whom to contact as far as the local communities are concerned. They settled the land claims for the First Nations and Cree Nations a long time ago, and this significantly helped development in the Québec North. The hydro projects developed in Québec have helped the mining industry move forward in this province, with infrastructure already being in place.