REGINA - The Government of Saskatchewan's second subsurface mineral public offering of the fiscal year, held Nov. 24, raised $2,270,322 in revenue, thanks largely to interest in lithium.
Of the 13 subsurface permits posted for this offering, 12 received bids for a total area covering 22,922.229 hectares. Ten of the permits are prospective for lithium in brine while two are prospective for potash.
Millennium Land Ltd. made the highest bid, $909,356.61 for a 3,914.410-hectare permit block located north of Stoughton. The company also had the winning bid, $550,018.00, for a second permit block totalling 2,369.031 hectares north of Kisbey. Both permit blocks are prospective for lithium in brine.
Hub City Lithium Corp. acquired two permits southwest of Stoughton totalling 1,405.403 hectares with a $354,161.53 bid. These permits are also prospective for lithium in brine.
One potash permit is in the Tuxford area and was awarded to Upcycle Minerals Inc., which bid $10,200 on the 4,275.594-hectare block. The second is near Davidson and was awarded to Sun Valley Land Ltd., which offered $9,937 for the 6,288.726 hectare block.
The November subsurface mineral offering was the second public offerings scheduled for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Since the Feb. 10, 2025, offering received no posting requests, it has been cancelled.
Through two such offerings this fiscal year, the Ministry of Energy and Resources has raised $8,205,749, up from the $1,459,502 through the one public offering held last fiscal year.
Lithium is one of the 27 critical minerals occurring in Saskatchewan that will play a key role in the province achieving the goals set out in Saskatchewan's Critical Minerals Strategy. Several firms are actively pursuing lithium exploration and production in the province.
The next offering is scheduled for the 2025-26 fiscal year on July 7, 2025.