Arbor Metals Corp. has returned a program-best assay of 260 ppm lithium over 0.61 metres from hole JAR26-37 during the Phase 1 2026 diamond drilling program at its wholly owned Jarnet Lithium Project in Quebec’s Eeyou Istchee James Bay region, directly adjacent to Patriot Battery Metals’ Shaakichiuwaanaan Property.

The campaign comprised five holes totaling 1,433 metres, with individual hole depths ranging from 189.95 to 337.59 metres. Drilling was carried out by Muskw, a joint venture between Forage Fusion Drilling and the local Cree community that previously performed drilling operations for the company.

Assays from the program yielded 56 samples grading above 150 ppm lithium, averaging 174.8 ppm Li. Eight samples exceeded 200 ppm Li, with the highest grade reaching 260 ppm Li in hole JAR26-37 between 227.39 and 228.00 metres. Arbor noted that these elevated values occur as tightly clustered samples within greywacke sediments rather than as discrete pegmatites, indicating consistent lithological hosting.

The drilling also returned a broad low-grade rare earth element envelope across all five holes. Total rare earth element grades across 122 reported intervals ranged from 95.4 ppm to 307.7 ppm, averaging 166.2 ppm TREE. The program’s top rare earth result reached 307.7 ppm TREE over 1.00 metre from 119.00 to 120.00 metres in hole JAR26-39, which also returned a heavy rare earth signature of 185.0 ppm HREE.

According to Arbor, lithium grades show essentially no correlation with rare earth tenor, indicating that the lithium and rare earth systems at Jarnet are decoupled. In addition to Jarnet, Arbor holds the Kemlee Lake Lithium Project in Ontario.

“Our Phase 1 2026 drill program has given us a substantial new dataset at Jarnet,” said Mark Ferguson, President and CEO of Arbor. “The program returned a best result of 260 ppm Li over 0.61 m in JAR26-37 and 307.7 ppm TREE over 1.00 m in JAR26-39, together with a broad low-grade rare earth envelope across all five holes. We will use this new data to refine our targeting for the next phase of exploration at Jarnet.”

— Mark Ferguson, President and CEO

Read the full announcement: Arbor Metals Announces Phase 1 2026 Drilling Results at Jarnet Lithium Project