REGINA — The Government of Saskatchewan's first subsurface mineral public offering of the fiscal year, held July 7, generated $1,023,670 in revenue, primarily due to interest in lithium.
Out of the 11 subsurface permits listed for this offering, four received bids covering a total area of 22,910.998 hectares. All the permits are prospective for lithium in formation water.
The highest bid was $984,452.07 from Millennium Land Ltd. for a 2,852.327-hectare block north of Estevan. Millennium Land Ltd. bid $27,044.83 on a second block, covering 12,697.104 hectares, in the Weyburn area.
Inland Country Earth Consulting acquired the remaining two permit blocks. One of them, covering 3,854.236 hectares and located in the Estevan area, received a bid of $6,286.56. The second block, covering 3,507.332 hectares and situated southeast of Radville, received a bid of $5,887.52.
Lithium is one of the 27 critical minerals found in Saskatchewan and several companies are actively pursuing lithium exploration and production in the province. According to a government news release, lithium will play a key role in the province achieving the goals outlined in Saskatchewan's Critical Minerals Strategy, including doubling the number of critical minerals being produced in Saskatchewan and increasing Saskatchewan's share of Canadian mineral exploration spending to 15 per cent, all by 2030.
The next public offering is scheduled for November.
