Q2 Metals released the first preliminary economic assessment for its Cisco lithium project in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec on November 10. The study, prepared by BBA Consultants, returns an after-tax net present value at an 8 percent discount rate of C$13.49 billion and an after-tax internal rate of return of 38.7 percent, on initial capital of C$2.93 billion including contingency and an after-tax payback of three years from the start of production. The valuation uses a long-term reference price of C$2,289 a tonne, or US$1,647, for 5.5 percent spodumene concentrate free on board in Quebec.
The mine plan is a conventional open pit feeding a two-phase plant that expands to 10 million tonnes a year of feed. Over 28 years it would process 264.2 million tonnes and produce 46.5 million tonnes of concentrate, an average of 1.7 million tonnes a year. Life-of-mine operating costs are put at C$11.91 billion, or C$256 a tonne of concentrate on a cash basis and C$454 a tonne all-in sustaining, which the company places in the lowest quartile of peers. The strip ratio is 2.44 to 1.
The resource behind the study is 297.3 million tonnes grading 1.36 percent lithium oxide, from 75 holes totalling 33,343 metres drilled through December 2025, with an effective date of May 26, 2026. The project covers 801 exclusive exploration rights over about 41,253 hectares, 6.5 kilometres from the Billy Diamond Highway and about 150 kilometres from rail at Matagami.
The caution is in the classification. The assessment is based solely on inferred mineral resources, which the company itself notes are too speculative geologically to be categorised as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty the results will be realised. The estimate is an AACE Class 5 figure with a target accuracy of minus 30 percent to plus 50 percent. Cisco is at the study stage, not the financing or construction stage, and the gap between this valuation and a bankable project is the drilling, upgrading and permitting work still ahead.