Name of the Project
PAK lithium mine project and lithium chemicals conversion facility.

Location
North of Red Lake, in Ontario, Canada.

Project Owner/s
The project is operated as a joint venture between lithium mining property developer Frontier (92.5%) and Mitsubishi Corporation (7.5%).

Project Description
The project contains North America’s highest-grade lithium resource and is the biggest in Ontario by size. 

The PAK site includes: the PAK and Spark openpits, rock dumps, a concentrator plant complex, a tailings management facility, electrical distribution, offices, a camp, a warehouse, maintenance, effluent treatment and an airstrip. 

The definitive feasibility study (DFS) proposes an openpit mining operation using conventional drill-blast-load-haul methods for extraction over an estimated 31-year mine life. 

The operating scenario presented in the DFS includes a processing line with a capacity of 200 000 t/y of chemical-grade concentrate or 1.04-million tonnes a year of chemical-grade ore. 

It also includes a 1.04-million-tonne-a-year processing plant that is scheduled to be commissioned in the third quarter of Year 1. The processing plant feed incorporates a production ramp-up of nine months. 

The average mining rate for ore and waste combined throughout the life-of-mine is estimated to be 4.7-million tonnes a year, with a peak production rate of 8.3-million tonnes a year projected in Year 9.

Total concentrate production is estimated at 6.1-million tonnes.

The chemicals plant site will be located in the Thunder Bay region and will comprise the plant and analytical facilities, as well as product and consumable handling infrastructure. 

The DFS for the lithium conversion facility started in July 2025. 

Potential Job Creation
In the two-year construction phase, the project is expected to create 931 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs nationally. In the 30-year operational phase the project is expected to create 415 FTE jobs.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The feasibility estimates an after-tax net present value, at an 8% base case discount rate, of C$932-million and an internal rate of return of 17.9%, with pretax payback of four years from the start of concentrator operation.

Capital Expenditure
Total capital expenditure is estimated at C$943.23-million.

Planned Start/End 
Frontier’s current project timeline targets the completion of final permitting and the start of construction, including clearing and site preparation, in 2027.

Latest Developments
Frontier Lithium announced on April 9, 2026, that it had entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets to raise C$15-million through a bought-deal private placement. The underwriters agreed to buy 20-million units at C$0.75 a unit. Each unit comprises one common share and half of one common share purchase warrant.

Each whole warrant will be exercisable at C$1 a share for two years. 

The offering is expected to close on or about April 22, 2026. Frontier has also granted the underwriters an option, exercisable for 30 days after closing, to acquire up to an additional 15% of the offering to cover over-allotments. 

Frontier has said the net proceeds will be used to complete an updated mine-and-mill technical report for the PAK project, advance permitting, support cost-shared infrastructure initiatives with government, and advance the lithium conversion study for a potential downstream facility in Thunder Bay. 

Key contracts, suppliers and consultants
Fluor (definitive feasibility study covering various work packages such as infrastructure, process and design, cost estimation, economic valuation, procurement and a technical report for Frontier. Fluor will also advance execution planning, and coordination with specialised consultants supporting technical studies, reporting and environmental assessments); and SLR (prepared construction quantities for the tailings management facility, water management, closure and rehabilitation costs).

Contact Details for Project Information
Frontier Lithium, tel +1 705 897 7622.