Categories: Energy
Topics: Lithium Stocks

Q2 Metals (TSX-V: QTWO)(OTC: QUEXF) VP Exploration Neil McCallum on Evaluating Metallurgy & Drilling 400-Meter Step-Outs at the Flagship Cisco Lithium Project, James Bay, Quebec

 

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the VP of Exploration for Q2 Metals Corp. (TSX-V: QTWO)(OTC: QUEXF) — Mr. Neil McCallum. Neil, it's great to have you back on. How are you?

Neil McCallum: I'm great, thanks. Happy to be chatting again.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent, let's get right to it. You are in the process of drilling 400-meter step-outs, which I'm really excited about because I think 2025 is going to be a year where the Cisco project really gets that world-class attention that I think it merits and deserves, I suspect, relatively soon.

You also just put out some pretty important news that I know flies under-the-radar for a lot of speculators in this space. And that's the metallurgical testing news. But that work is critical. You can have all of the lithium spodumene in the world, and hundreds of meters of it. Yet, at the end of the day, if you can't process it, it's not worth much. 

Can you give us some context on the recent release here?

Neil McCallum: Sure, in context, we're really just starting the process of looking at what we have, again, keeping in mind that this is a new project. The first steps are really to confirm the mineralogy. And that's what we've done here; to confirm that spodumene is the dominant lithium-bearing mineral. 

We don't have any of the occasional minerals that are included within lithium-bearing pegmatites such as petalite, lepidolite, amblygonite, or any of these other minerals. They can contribute a significant amount, at times, to lithium grade. So we talk about grade, and that's fine and all. You can have 3% to 4% lithium oxide but if it's not all spodumene, then it isn't nearly as substantial.

What we've proven is that every sample so far has only lithium included in spodumene. There's probably a little bit of lithium in some of the micas but that's not a very significant amount, and it's not uncommon for that to happen in other areas and in other projects. 

All signs are good that this will be positive for additional metallurgical work that we're on the way to doing as well to more specifically prove up, really, the lower-cost recovery methods like heavy liquid separation (HLS), dense media separation (DMS), that everybody talks about trying to reduce the reliance on flotation, which is a little bit more expensive. 

We can't speak to that right now. But signs are looking good because we've got that spodumene, which will have a higher chance of reacting well to that kind of recovery technique.

Gerardo Del Real: When I look around the world and I see the resource wars that the US and Canada and China and basically everybody right now are engaged in, and then I look at the infrastructure that Q2 Metals benefits from, and I see the potential for lower-end-of-the-cost-curve here with the metallurgical work, and then I see the potential scale at Cisco, you have to be feeling really good about where Q2 is right now. 

I know that people are exercising warrants, including myself. And I'm sure some people are trimming stock; hence, the reason you're below a buck. I don't think that lasts very long because I think those warrants expire here pretty soon. But you’ve got to be feeling good about where Q2 Metals is positioned here in 2025.

Neil McCallum: Definitely. We're in a pretty good cash position. We've got more than enough cash to execute our winter program and get on our way in the spring/summertime. We've got options to add more capacity for additional exploration this summer and really ramp things up. 

We've got everything potentially lined up to do that if we want to. But right now, the cash position, we're feeling very comfortable with additional funds with the warrants that are just going to bolster that. We'll see how it goes by the end of that warrant exercise period. It's another 10 days until the 23rd, I believe. 

The clock is ticking… but I think we're most of the way there. And it's just a great position to be in. We don't need to fuss about the share price right now. And I think once we put out some of the results for this current program, like the visual spodumene pegmatite intervals, that's going to really change the game. So just wait and see on that, I think.

Gerardo Del Real: I had someone on Twitter, or X, depending on what you call it, right? I put ‘Hey, I have a Q2 Metals interview coming up. Anything y'all want to know?’ And some was kind enough to ask, ‘What will they do when the cash is vanishing?’ My response and my personal opinion was that I just exercised my warrants like a bunch of other people. They're drilling 400-meter step-outs. That's fully-funded.

Cash is vanishing but the drills are turning = get more cash eventually at higher prices. I’m pretty sure the company has strategics watching those step-outs. My opinion… but I'll ask. Now I'm asking: Neil, is my statement pretty accurate or is there a variation of that or can you comment on that at all?

Neil McCallum: I can't comment too specifically but you're not far off. I think a lot of people in the investment speculative world are watching us because they know that there's a lot of potential here for upside. And I think a lot of other acquisition folks are ready to pounce too. But I can't comment on that specifically. 

But I think it makes sense because we own the project one hundred percent. And I know there's a lot of big companies looking all over James Bay, and there are only a few left that haven't already had a JV or some sort of substantial financing put into it.

I know there's a lot of attention on us. And it's a little bit of pressure when we're doing these big step-outs. But we just have to do this work and see what our potential is because, like you said, there's just so much more to prove up on making this a truly globally significant project because we've only tested with 23 holes; we're only 23 holes in on the project. 

It’s early days. There's a lot more work to do and some exciting information to gather this winter and into the coming year.

Gerardo Del Real: I'm going to ask you another question that you likely won't get into specifics about. But when I was in Vancouver, and I attended the breakfast there, I had the pleasure of chatting with a lot of people. And it doesn't take much with me but a lot of people that are way smarter than I am. 

I had one gentleman in particular that's pretty well-known in the space and knows his stuff as well as anyone. What he told me off the record was, when it's all said and done, Gerardo, I think the Cisco project is going to have 300 to 400 million tonnes. At the very least, it has that potential. 

Is there anything to disprove that right now given the strike length and in what you're seeing thus far? I’m not asking you if it's there right now; I’m asking you if there's anything to disprove the potential for that.

Neil McCallum: No, I wouldn't say there's anything to disprove that for sure. I mean, that's a vague question that I can't answer at the best of times, right? Putting numbers in… I just can't do that. But if we were to put out an exploration target at the level of work that we did last year, in 2024, I think, given what we haven't even tested yet, that's not out of the question. 

But again, we have to just do the work to prove it, and it'll be what it is. And whatever that is, given the work we've done now, is going to be significant. Even if we decide to close off the current resource, the current zone that we've defined, that's going to be significant too. Either way, it's a win-win. We just need to figure out exactly what that potential is at this point.

Gerardo Del Real: Agreed. And, note to team, I am a big fan of exploration targets. It gives the speculators in the space like myself who really, really thoroughly enjoy adding value via the drill bit just something to look at and shoot for. 

If you guys and gals do decide to go ahead and put one of those out, I would not be upset at that news release. How is the drilling coming along, Neil?

Neil McCallum: Yes, it's going really well. We're over a week into it. There's always kinks at the beginning of the program, and it's winter time. We're in the thick of winter but it's nothing we haven't done before here in Canada. We're used to the cold temperatures. Otherwise, things are going well at the drill bit.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Anything else to add? Neil, thank you so much for your time. I know I put you on the spot with a couple of things there but it’s kind of my job to do that, so I’ve got to do it. Anything you want to add to that?

Neil McCallum: No, I think we've got it all.

Gerardo Del Real: Awesome. Well, listen, looking forward to getting initial visual descriptions and, obviously, looking forward to results. Thank you so much for your time.

Neil McCallum: Yes, of course.

Gerardo Del Real: Alright, chat soon. Cheers.

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