YellowknifeSA国际影视传媒檚 economic outlook may appear grim as the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 three diamonds draw closer to closure, but one rare earths exploration company claims it might just be the catalyst for better days ahead.

April Hayward is the chief sustainability officer at Li-FT (pronounced SA国际影视传媒渓iftSA国际影视传媒�). Although based in Vancouver, theySA国际影视传媒檝e been doing exploration work in the NWT for almost a year now. Hayward went into detail on their results so far.

SA国际影视传媒淲e have drilled a total of 286 holes over the last year between the summer and the winter program we had, which is 49,547.5 meters of drilling,SA国际影视传媒� said Hayward.

Hayward said Li-FT has a couple of projects in the NWT, one of which they call the SA国际影视传媒淵ellowknife Lithium project,SA国际影视传媒� which is taking place just outside the city, including one location just of Bighill Lake, she said.

Last winter, the company built a winter road across Pontoon Lake and onto Bighill Lake to access this location.

As the title suggests, the company is looking for lithium. To find it, Li-FT has identified 13 spodumene pegmatite locations in the territory, Hayward explained. Some are close to Yellowknife, some are further afield to the east.

Spodumene is a pretty-looking crystal that contains lithium. And so far, Li-FTSA国际影视传媒檚 results sound good.

SA国际影视传媒淥f those 13 pegmatites that we think have some lithium in them, eight have already been drilled, and that includes seven along the Ingraham Trail,SA国际影视传媒� Hayward said. She added theySA国际影视传媒檙e starting to see some SA国际影视传媒減retty promisingSA国际影视传媒� results, but are still in the exploration phase though.

Nothing is set in stone. Hayward added that Li-FT hasnSA国际影视传媒檛 done any economic studies either, and are still determining what their future in NWT looks like.

Next up on their to-do list is gathering more data, Hayward said.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e turned our attention more towards getting ready to, perhaps one day, enter an environmental assessment,SA国际影视传媒� said Hayward. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檒l be collecting things like water quality data, information on fish populations, and hydrology and water flows in the area.SA国际影视传媒�

She added theySA国际影视传媒檒l also be getting more background information on the socio-economic side of the territory, which will also feed into their environmental assessment.

Bringing a new mine into production isnSA国际影视传媒檛 exactly a speedy process. Hayward noted the average time from discovery to production of a mine is around 16 years.

That puts them on quite the time crunch. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a risk, Hayward said, considering whatSA国际影视传媒檚 at stake.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 a window of opportunity for bringing hardrock lithium into the global lithium market. And thatSA国际影视传媒檚 what we have in the area,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭he risk there of not doing this in a timely manner and moving the project forward in a timely manner, is that the technology to extract lithium from different sources is going to evolve very rapidly.SA国际影视传媒�

She added that companies are trying to find novel ways of extracting lithium and novel sources of lithium.

SA国际影视传媒淧eople are out looking for lithium and now like theySA国际影视传媒檝e never been before, because about 80 per cent of the demand for lithium comes from electric vehicles,SA国际影视传媒� Hayward said.

On April 25, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that the Japanese automaker, Honda, will spend $15 billion to build four electric vehicle plants in Ontario.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 been so many commitments made by governments around the world to switch off of vehicles that use fossil fuels and move over to a new (electric vehicle) era,SA国际影视传媒� said Hayward. SA国际影视传媒淎nd so people are out looking for lithium, and theySA国际影视传媒檙e really trying to innovate around ways to extract lithium.SA国际影视传媒�

Li-FT has a rather ambitious schedule now, Hayward said. They could potentially start their environmental assessment process as early as 2025.

SA国际影视传媒淎nd then it should take maybe a year after that, for the actual permitting process where you establish the specific licence and permit conditions under which you operate and all of your management plans and whatnot,SA国际影视传媒� she explained.

If all goes well, Li-FT could start construction in 2029, potentially entering production in 2030, said Hayward.

In the meantime, she stressed the need for communication, especially with communities in the Northwest Territories.

SA国际影视传媒淲e really want to be transparent about our activities and what weSA国际影视传媒檙e up to,SA国际影视传媒� said Hayward.

The future hasnSA国际影视传媒檛 always looked so bright for the NWT. If all goes well, they might still strike gold, or lithium, so to speak.

SA国际影视传媒淭his project has great potential to fill a really important economic gap in the Northwest Territories, and I think thereSA国际影视传媒檚 a lot of concern about what will happen to the territory and to our communities with the closure of the (diamond) mines,SA国际影视传媒� said Hayward.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think itSA国际影视传媒檚 important that people are aware of it and ask questions and have their concerns addressed early so that we can hopefully all work together to make sure we have a bright economic future in the territory.SA国际影视传媒�