The Saskatchewan government says the latest subsurface mineral public offering has raised a record 3.2 million dollars.

The first offering for the new fiscal year has raised the highest amount since the subsurface mineral public offering process began in 2018.

In total, the province has collected almost 7.5 million dollars from the three subsurface mineral public offerings this year.

The record amount of money raised this past year is due to increased interest and demand for lithium.

Given the province’s geological potential and existing brine extraction expertise and infrastructure, the province is well placed to become a leader in this industry.

77 subsurface permit blocks totalling 590 thousand acres were posted this month.

46 of these permit blocks, covering over 460 thousand acres received acceptable bids.

The highest bid was 420 thousand dollars from NRG LandSolutions for 20 thousand acre block 28 kilometers southwest of Torquay, prospective for minerals like lithium.

The highest dollars per acre bid was for a parcel 6 kilometers east of Bethune, prospective for potash.

The permit, from Buffalo Potash, was almost 25 dollars per acre for a total of 212 thousand dollars.

Subsurface minerals are natural mineral salts like lithium and potassium, more than 60 meters underground.

Lithium is attracting attention due to its use in Lithium ion batteries.

No posting requests have been received for the next scheduled offering so the February 7th posting has been cancelled.

The next subsurface mineral offering will be on June 27th, 2022.

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