From Canada to Greenland: Brunswick's CEO on the Global Hunt for Lithium
- Miningvisuals
- 4 days ago
- 10 min read
Interview: Killian Charles, CEO of Brunswick Exploration (TSX-V: BRW)
In the vast, resource-rich territories of Canada, a modern exploration boom is underway. The prize? Lithium—the white gold powering our electrified future. While many follow the well-trodden path, some companies are taking a bolder approach, hunting for entirely new discoveries from the ground up. Brunswick Exploration (TSX.V: BRW) is one of those pioneers.
With a commanding land position in Quebec's James Bay lithium hotspot and an ambitious expansion into the new frontier of Greenland, Brunswick is making a name for itself as one of the most active grassroots explorers in North America. We spoke with President and CEO Killian Charles to discuss the company's strategy, the excitement around their Mirage discovery, and the future of the lithium market.
1.) Thanks for joining us, Killian. To start, could you give us the elevator pitch for Brunswick Exploration?
Killian Charles: Brunswick Exploration is a dedicated lithium exploration company. We recognized that grassroots exploration and expertise for lithium were severely lacking. So, at the start of the last cycle, we launched one of the largest grassroots initiatives in the world, focused on Canada. We explored in pretty much every province in the country.
Subsequent to that, we made discoveries in Quebec, including one which we're now bringing to a resource stage. We wanted to continue leveraging the unique expertise that resides in the company and look further afield. One of the first places we went to was Greenland, which was never known for lithium, and sure enough, we made the first confirmed lithium discovery in the country, which we're working to expand. Based on that continued success, we're even looking further afield into new jurisdictions.
We are quite active. It goes back to this skillset just being lacking out there. There are a lot of incredibly strong exploration geologists for gold, copper, and zinc; those are commodities that have been well explored across the entire planet. But when it comes to lithium, that expertise is just missing. I think the large number of discoveries—not just by our team but in the entire industry—that have been made in the last five years speak to that potential and that lack of systematic exploration work. That's the gap that we want to fill at Brunswick Exploration. That's the opportunity we see to continue growing the company, and we absolutely will continue growing.
2.) I want to discuss Greenland more, but first, can you tell us a bit about your background and what led you to Brunswick?
Killian Charles: I started off studying geology at McGill and then worked as a mining analyst for a number of boutique firms here in Canada, including Industrial Alliance Securities and Laurentian Bank Securities. Funnily enough, the first company I covered was Integra Gold. I loved that asset, which was right here in Quebec, and wanted to join it. So, I left Laurentian Bank to join the team at Integra Gold. Eighteen months later, it was acquired, unsurprisingly, as it was such a wonderful project.
Then I joined the Osisko group. They were starting up a base metal division called Osisko Metals, so I got to work there for a number of years. At the start of the pandemic, we felt we wanted to make a new company that was going to focus on exploration—the bread-and-butter stuff that we should be doing in this industry but kind of forget to do at times. That was Brunswick Exploration, and I came on board to lead that initiative. I’ve now been doing it for about five years, and it's been a roller coaster ride.
3.) You've mentioned your focus is on making discoveries. How does that differ from other lithium companies?
Killian Charles: It's something that's a little bit different. There are some great projects out there. Q2 is an incredible project, and Patriot is another astounding asset; I find both of these companies are severely undervalued. Where we differ is that while we do have that late-stage asset in Mirage, which we've drilled and are bringing to a resource estimate, we really focused on what our strength is. And our strength is discovering things.
I feel a lot of companies forget what they're good at. The classic model of making a discovery, then doing a PEA, a feasibility study, permitting, and building it, is fine. But you kind of lose sight of what made you in the first place, which was making that discovery. This is a unique opportunity where exploration hasn't happened and there's a lot of upside. So let's go ahead and make more discoveries. Let's play to our strength. That's what we did across Canada, and that's what we are now doing in Greenland and hopefully in other places as well.
4.) You focus on hard rock lithium, or spodumene. Can you break down the key differences between what you do and the brine operations we often see?
Killian Charles: There are three main buckets when it comes to lithium production. First, you have the brines, which is water that is chemically enriched in lithium, but at very, very low concentrations. You extract the lithium from this water, which requires a significant amount of pumping and water manipulation.
Then, at a higher grade, you have things known as salars, predominantly in South America. There, you're looking at ancient seabeds where lithium salt has been concentrated. You use water to redissolve the salt and let it evaporate to form a slurry that contains a high concentration of lithium, where you again extract the lithium. The issue with that one, obviously, is that it requires a staggering amount of water in a desert where there isn't a lot of water.
Lastly, you have hard rock, which is what we focus on. These are the highest-grade lithium deposits out there. Lithium can be found in many different minerals, and some are easier to extract from than others. Spodumene, a lithium-bearing mineral, is the best one, and that's what we've exclusively focused on. If a discovery is made but the main lithium mineral is not spodumene, we will most likely ignore it.
5.) What other criteria do you look for in a project?
Killian Charles: We are laser-focused. Besides being spodumene-only, a project has to have the potential for 50 million tons. So, it has to be a sizable deposit. It also has to be close to infrastructure and have simple metallurgy. These seem like easy concepts, but you'd be surprised how many projects, especially in the last cycle, attracted capital when the metallurgy is no good, they have the wrong minerals, or the project is too small or too far. You have to be stringent in your criteria.
6.) Let's talk about your flagship Mirage project in James Bay, Quebec. Why James Bay, and what makes that jurisdiction so attractive?
Killian Charles: Four years ago, James Bay would have been like anywhere else; nothing really made it stand out. What we've now realized is that James Bay is an absolute world-class lithium province in terms of endowment. The deposits in James Bay are bigger, higher grade, and have better metallurgy than anything else in Canada. Honestly, it is a top-five, probably top-three, hard rock lithium environment on the planet.
It's just staggering. Everyone knows that Nevada is very rich for gold; well, this is the same idea but for lithium. So, what makes it special? There's a lot of world-class lithium there. Our Mirage project is well-located next to other large lithium resources, and Patriot Battery Metals is 80 kilometers away. It's absolutely where you want to be.
7.) Can you walk us through the discovery highlights at Mirage?
Killian Charles: It's pretty simple stuff and it's exactly what we want from our criteria. We want to be within 50 kilometers of infrastructure; check, we're 37 km from a road.
Then you have the metallurgy. We did metallurgical tests earlier this year that demonstrate it's amenable to a form of separation called Dense Media Separation (DMS). Essentially, you're separating based on density. You pass material into an iron-rich aqueous solution, and light minerals float while heavy elements sink. There's no chemical process involved, so it's a much cleaner way to extract, and all the best hard rock spodumene mines use this process.
8.) How does that look from an operating expense perspective?
Killian Charles: When you're looking at OPEX and CAPEX, it's massive savings. If I was to compare a DMS-only project versus a standard flotation project, which is what they predominantly have in Western Australia, the cost savings are anywhere from 30% to 50% on the milling side. The overall cost reduction can be up to 30%. It's really staggering.
To finish off, the last and most important question is, what is the potential? We've drilled a significant amount of near-surface, well-mineralized, wide intercepts—all the way up to 95 meters at 1.6% lithium oxide, and 50 meters at 1.1%. We've drilled some intercepts of 20 meters at over 2%. It is all contained within a 2-kilometer corridor, but it is open beyond that. We're still only scratching the surface but are getting close to releasing a resource estimate by year-end.
9.) What are the next critical steps for Mirage?
Killian Charles: Right now, the main milestone is to put out that resource estimate. We're making sure we have everything necessary for that, ensuring all our metallurgical work and drilling data is valid. We should be in a position to release that by year-end. Once we have that in hand, we can classically begin the development timeline, which we absolutely will. But there will also be a strong focus on continuing exploration, be it at Mirage where we still see more upside, or on the grassroots front in Greenland or other locations.
10.) That takes us to Greenland. What was the strategic thinking that made you look there?
Killian Charles: The answer is actually pretty simple. We took a step back and looked at the planet to figure out how to supply different regions with lithium. We said, okay, Quebec can supply all of North America. Solved. But how does Europe supply itself? There are a few projects there, but due to poor social acceptability, low grades, or low tonnage, nothing met our 50-million-ton criteria. We struggled to pinpoint something that made a lot of sense.
So, we said, look, Greenland is, to a certain extent, one foot in Europe. Politically, it is still part of Europe, and I see no reason why that will ever change. Here's an area that has never seen lithium exploration but where, geologically speaking, it is highly prospective. So let's go see. Let's apply our expertise. That's exactly the mindset we had, and as you pointed out, we went into a virgin area and made the first discovery late in 2024. We’ve now had a full season in 2025 and have results that will be forthcoming quite shortly.
11.) Operationally, how does exploring in Greenland differ from Quebec?
Killian Charles: Surprisingly, not that much. You're faced with similar winters. The main advantage, though, is the same reason why many people live in Norway, Sweden, and Finland: you have warm waters from the Gulf Stream. The average winter temperature in Nuuk is about -10 to -15°C, so all things considered, very reasonable. We focused on that part of the country because it is relatively ice-free year-round. This allows us to think strategically that if a discovery is made, we can ship material out of this area year-round.
It is not as remote as it looks. To give you an idea, our main discovery is near the capital of Nuuk. It's a 45-minute helicopter ride, and you could get there by boat. To get to Nuuk is actually cheaper and easier for me from Montreal than it is to get to Mirage. It tells you a lot.
12.) What is Brunswick's particular edge when it comes to discovering new lithium sources?
Killian Charles: Our edge is the fact that we're one of the only ones doing this type of work. Especially now that the lithium price has pulled back, a lot of companies came into the space not really sure what they were doing. They were just following what was popular. That can work; sometimes they're lucky. We believe in making our own luck, but luck will always be a component.
We stayed stringent. My view has always been that the company that sees the most rock and does the most exploration is the one best positioned to make discoveries. From the get-go, we explored across all of Canada. No one has seen as many rocks or potential targets as us. No one has done as much work on the grassroots side. That created a skill base and a knowledge base that only exists in Brunswick, and that's what we continuously leverage. We recognize that as our strength, so we don't get bogged down with saying, "Okay, I'm going to do a feasibility study as quickly as possible." No, we're an exploration company. We're good at exploring.
13.) Zooming out to the market, what is your view on the supply and demand picture for lithium for the rest of the decade?
Killian Charles: I like to say I'm a realist. It's very simple. In the last five years, you had a huge demand increase, and supply was simply not there. Supply in the mining industry is slow to respond. As this small industry tried to mature, you had a disjointment where demand overshot supply. Then supply said, "Okay, I'm going to bring a lot of stuff online," and it overshot demand. That's why the price dropped, and that's normal.
Now, demand is still growing very well—15% year-over-year, which is a staggering amount when you look at a mature industry like copper that grows at 2%. Eventually, the lithium markets will rebalance, and we'll come back to a different scenario where demand is outstripping supply again. Over time, these overshoots will become smaller as the industry matures, and you'll get to something similar to copper or zinc, with 2% year-over-year growth.
In my books, the market stabilizes over the next 18 months, where we start to have a better lithium price. After that, you might be in a bullish environment for another two years to close out the decade.
14.) What are the key catalysts and milestones for Brunswick in the coming 12 to 18 months?
Killian Charles: Look for a resource estimate at Mirage. We're going to be drilling some of our other assets in Quebec that are now at a drill-ready stage. There will be another drill campaign ongoing at a project we call Anata. Then we have results from our campaign in Greenland, which will hopefully result in a drill campaign plan there as well. We have more jurisdictions we're looking at. We're going to be active. We have a full agenda for the next 6 to 18 months of drill results, exploration results, and milestones. We want to justify every dollar from our investors.
15.) Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
Killian Charles: No, I think we pretty much covered everything. At the end of the day, we're at a point where we just want to be putting out results. Before was the "show me" phase. Now, we're going to show people. That's what it boils down to.
For more information on Brunswick Exploration, please visit their official website: https://brwexplo.ca/
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