Québec's Lithium Belt Is Drilling Again — and the Grades Are Loud

Lithium's price got cut to ribbons and left for dead. Somebody forgot to tell the drill crews in Québec.

Azimut Exploration reported high-grade lithium pegmatite results at Wabamisk East, including 1.87% Li₂O over 36.30 metres and 2.20% Li₂O over 23.05 metres. Those aren't teaser numbers — wide intervals above roughly 1.5% Li₂O are economically meaningful even with spodumene prices in the basement.

They're not drilling alone. Q2 Metals commenced a summer program and is advancing toward a preliminary economic assessment on its Cisco lithium project. And Li-FT Power (TSXV: LIFT) launched a 2026 campaign at its Adina-Galinée project that is enormous for a junior: 163 diamond drill holes totalling 38,970 metres across a consolidated spodumene pegmatite complex.

The read: explorers drill hardest when they believe the cycle will turn before they reach production. A 39,000-metre program is not something you commit to if you think lithium is finished. High grades plus big programs is conviction spending — the market just isn't paying for it yet.

The bear case, and it's a real one: lithium spot is ugly and could stay ugly longer than these juniors stay funded. Grade doesn't matter if the price never recovers, or if the deposit can't be permitted and built. Every name here is pre-revenue and speculative, and a weak tape punishes even good rock.

What we're watching: assays from Azimut's follow-up drilling and the timing of Q2's Cisco PEA. If grades hold and one of these advances toward an economic study, the group gets a lot more interesting — cycle be damned.

This is market commentary, not investment advice. Battery-metal juniors carry a high risk of total loss.