By:Miningweekly

The Australian company, which has been exploring for lithium in North America for the last two years, resulting in a successful discovery in Canada, has set its sights on the Katwaro project, in Zambia.

“Copper, like lithium, is an essential ingredient in the battery metals complex and for many other industrial uses,” says executive chairperson Hugh Warner.

With a binding option agreement in place with Zambian company Array Metals and Natural Resources, Patriot is set to acquire an 80% interest in the Katwaro project, which spans 400 ha and includes a historical openpit mine rich in copper-bearing metasediments.

“The company believes that the Katwaro copper project will complement our lithium assets and provide jurisdictional diversity, with respect to native title/sovereign risk and alternative weather windows for exploration,” says Warner.

The expansion comes on the heels of challenges faced at the Gorman lithium project, in Canada, where a First Nation Band has denied Patriot land access.

Warner remains optimistic that a resolution will be found, stating that negotiations for land access at Gorman are ongoing.

Gorman lies along strike from TSX-V-listed Frontier Lithium’s PAK-Spark lithium project.

“The prospectivity in the region hosting the Gorman lithium project is now starting to be recognised by major industry players, with Frontier announcing a joint venture over its PAK-Spark lithium project with Mitsubishi to advance the first fully integrated lithium operation in Ontario, Canada,” he says.

Warner notes that the investment by Mitsubishi serves as a third-party endorsement of the region’s potential to become a leading lithium exploration and production district.