TSX-V-listed Rock Tech Lithium has entered into an option agreement with Bounty Gold Corporation and Last Resort Resources to acquire a 100% interest in the Victory project, in Ontario.

Rock Tech believes the Victory project could represent a potential future source of lithium-bearing minerals for the group's planned made-in-Ontario lithium supply chain, supporting the province's electric vehicle and battery ecosystem and its emerging advanced manufacturing and defence sectors.

Victory hosts two known spodumene-bearing lithium/cesium/tantalum pegmatite occurrences at surface, with the total project area totalling 9 875 ha. The Last Resort pegmatite is the company's initial priority target. Selective grab sampling from the occurrence has returned values of up to 5.11% lithium oxide.

The project complements Rock Tech's Georgia Lake project and the proposed Red Rock Converter by adding an additional exploration-stage lithium property to the company's Ontario asset portfolio.

"If exploration and technical evaluation is successfully advanced, Victory could represent a potential future source of spodumene feedstock for our broader Ontario mine-to-converter strategy," says Rock Tech, which adds that developing domestic sources of lithium feedstock is increasingly important as Canada and allied economies seek to build secure critical mineral supply chains.

"By combining exploration and development opportunities with downstream conversion capacity, Rock Tech aims to help reduce dependence on overseas processing."

Meanwhile, under the option agreement, Rock Tech may acquire a 100% interest in the Victory project by making aggregate payments of C$600 000 in cash and issuing C$400 000 worth of common shares to the sellers over a 24-month period. The vendors will retain a 2% net smelter return royalty on the project, to which Rock Tech has the right to purchase 1% of the royalty for C$1-million at any time prior to a construction decision.

Additional milestone payments will become due once a compliant mineral resource estimate is published.