In 2023, the first economic study on Grounded Lithium’s Kindersley project put its after-tax net present value at US$1.0 billion. The pre-feasibility study released on October 13 puts it at C$125.0 million. Along the way, by its own account, the company became the first to publicly declare NI 43-101 lithium reserves in Saskatchewan.
Grounded Lithium Books First Saskatchewan Lithium Reserves
Grounded Lithium Corp. (TSXV: GRD; OTC: GRDAF) released pre-feasibility study results for its Kindersley Lithium Project in southwest Saskatchewan on October 13. A pre-feasibility study, or PFS, is the engineering and economic stage at which a company can first convert part of a mineral resource into reserves, the portion judged economically mineable. Stantec Consulting Ltd. authored the study. Grounded Lithium describes it as the first major de-risking step it has reached with project partner Denison Mines Corp. (TSX: DML; NYSE American: DNN).
The headline number is a reserve of 82,499 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, or LCE, the standard unit for comparing lithium across different end products. The company says these are the first NI 43-101 compliant lithium reserves publicly declared in the province. NI 43-101 is the Canadian rule governing how mining companies disclose resources and reserves.
The reserve covers a sliver of the land package. Reserves and the resources tied to them sit on 36 sections, about 13% of the project’s total area, with an effective date of June 26, 2026.
Across the whole project, Grounded Lithium cites roughly 1.0 million tonnes of LCE in combined reserves and measured and indicated resources. Phase one targets brine in the Duperow formation carrying 70.0 to 81.0 milligrams of lithium per liter.
Kindersley PFS Cuts Planned Output to 3,200 Tonnes a Year
The reserve came attached to a much smaller project. The PFS assumes average production of about 3,200 tonnes of LCE a year, against roughly 10,000 tonnes a year in the 2023 preliminary economic assessment, or PEA, an earlier and less detailed study.
The economics shrank with it.
The 2023 PEA reported an after-tax net present value of US$1.0 billion at an 8% discount rate, with a 48.5% after-tax internal rate of return. The PFS reports an NPV of C$125.0 million (US$90.0 million) and an IRR of 10.8%, on what the company calls a considerably smaller land base than the PEA used.
Grounded Lithium attributes the revisions to the technical de-risking behind the study and credits Denison’s metallurgical expertise. Pre-production capital is now estimated at C$603.1 million (US$434 million). Average operating costs run C$27.2 million a year, or C$8,581 per tonne of LCE.
That capital figure is a Class 4 estimate, which by the company’s own disclosure could prove 15% to 30% lower or 20% to 50% higher.
The process design changed too. The PFS uses adsorption-based direct lithium extraction, or DLE, which pulls lithium from brine chemically rather than through evaporation ponds, and its flowsheet ends in lithium carbonate; the 2023 PEA figure was expressed as about 11,000 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide monohydrate. Phase one calls for 45 brine production wells feeding a central processing facility through about 46.6 kilometers of buried pipeline.
Management says output could rise if further drilling upgrades inferred resources into higher-confidence categories. That is a forward-looking company view. The PFS itself does not demonstrate it.
Grounded Lithium Working Capital Deficit and Denison Earn-In
Grounded Lithium reported a working capital deficit of C$114,043 at June 30, 2026, compared with a surplus of C$94,710 a year earlier. Its second-quarter net comprehensive loss was C$132,943.
Denison holds an option, signed in January 2024, to earn up to a 75% working interest in Kindersley by funding up to $15.15 million: $3.15 million in cash payments to Grounded Lithium and $12.0 million in project spending. No disclosure of how much of that earn-in Denison has completed was identified in the sources reviewed.
To support its lithium work, the company has built a small oil and gas side business. Its partnership’s June oil sales averaged 123 barrels a day. In July, Grounded Lithium also took a C$106,000 unsecured loan from an arm’s-length lender at 12% annual interest, repayable over 18 months, toward oil facility upgrades.
No funding plan for the C$603.1 million capital estimate, and no specific cash runway, were identified in the sources reviewed.
U.S. investors face a separate friction. The company’s 2026 releases describe its U.S. listing simply as OTC, where earlier releases named the OTCQB venture tier, and third-party quote data shows the shares on OTC Pink, the over-the-counter tier with the lightest disclosure requirements. Readers should confirm availability with their broker.
Grounded Lithium Kindersley Technical Report Due November 27, 2026
Grounded Lithium said the NI 43-101 technical report behind the PFS will be filed on SEDAR+, Canada’s public filing system, within 45 days of the October 13 release. That puts the deadline at November 27, 2026.
The company has said the next stage may involve more detailed engineering and a field pilot. It has not attached dates to either.
Sources
- PR Newswire: Grounded Lithium Releases Kindersley Lithium Project Pre-Feasibility Study Results Mineral Reserves Booked on the KLP Supported By Rigorous Technical De-risking, October 13, 2026
- PR Newswire: Grounded Lithium Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial and Operating Results, August 19, 2026
- PR Newswire: Grounded Lithium Announces June Oil Sales and Secures Loans to Fund Oil & Gas Facility Improvements, July 30, 2026
Editorial Disclosure
This article is based entirely on publicly available information, specifically Grounded Lithium Corp.’s October 13, August 19, and July 30, 2026 press releases as distributed by PR Newswire. The securities discussed are Grounded Lithium Corp. (TSXV: GRD) (OTC: GRDAF) and Denison Mines Corp. (TSX: DML) (NYSE American: DNN). aktiego.com has not received any compensation from Grounded Lithium, Denison, their management, investor relations representatives, or any third party. No staff member or principal of aktiego.com holds a position in either security at the time of publication.
The Kindersley reserve of 82,499 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, and the roughly 1.0 million tonnes of combined reserves and measured and indicated resources, are company-reported figures prepared under NI 43-101 and the 2014 CIM Definition Standards, with an effective date of June 26, 2026, per the October 13, 2026 release. That release states an original average brine concentration of 73.8 milligrams of lithium per liter. This article does not cite a split between proven and probable reserves. The company says the supporting technical report will be filed within 45 days of the release, and this article has not reviewed it. The qualified person responsible for the reserve and resource figures, Doug Ashton, P.Eng., is with Sproule International Limited.
The PFS economics, including the C$125.0 million NPV and the C$603.1 million capital estimate, are company-stated and forward-looking. The capital figure is a Class 4 estimate that the company says carries an accuracy range of minus 15% to 30% and plus 20% to 50%. A pre-feasibility study is not a feasibility study. No construction decision and no financing for the project’s capital cost have been disclosed, and the lithium price assumption behind the economics is not cited here. Denison’s interest is an option to earn in, not a completed transfer.
Grounded Lithium reported a working capital deficit of C$114,043 as of June 30, 2026, and in July 2026 took on a C$106,000 unsecured loan at 12% annual interest. No specific cash runway and no going concern language were identified in the sources reviewed; readers should consult the company’s full financial statements on SEDAR+.
Grounded Lithium’s US line is described only as OTC in its 2026 releases, and third-party quote data indicates the shares trade on OTC Pink, a tier with limited disclosure requirements. US investors should check broker availability before attempting to trade.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of Grounded Lithium’s press releases, per the company’s own standard disclosure.
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