08:57 AM EDT, 08/01/2017 (MT Newswires) -- Nemaska Lithium (NMX.TO) -- which was trading at $1.05 last Tuesday, and at $0.95 on July 5, but has risen significantly of late and touched above $1.30 yesterday -- on Tuesday said about half of its infill drill holes reported "significant" widths and grades higher than 1.5%, which is the company reserve grade, in diamond drilling results from the 2017 program at its fully owned Whabouchi lithium mine project. A statement said the 4,361-metre drill program combines definition drilling to a depth of 50 metres in the "Five Year Starter Pit' between sections 200E and 700E as well as expansion drilling in the Doris zone located immediately to the SW of the main Whabouchi deposit.

Chief Exectutive Officer Guy Bourassa said the drilling result is consistent with the results of the company's bulk sample taken from the eastern end of the pit shell and had an average head grade of about 1.7% Li2O. Bourassa added this "bodes well" for its mine start-up, as economics is critical in terms of the capital payback.

He said: "With the Doris discovery, what was previously recorded as waste rock is now ore. We will see the impact of Doris in future studies which are planned following the completion of our project financing."

Stock on Monday climbed more than 3% to $1.25 apiece.

Price: 1.25, Change: 0, Percent Change: 0