Astute Metals (ASX:ASE) has uncovered the highest grades so far at its wholly owned Red Mountain Lithium Project in Nevada US.
The company has received results from the first six drillholes of the diamond drilling campaign.
Results include 32.4m @ 3,260 parts per million (ppm) lithium, or 1.74% lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), from 57.2m with an internal “high-grade” zone of 8.6m @ 5,060ppm lithium, or 2.69% LCE, from 67.7m.
Astute says the results returned from hole RMDD003 mark the highest-grade lithium intercept recorded to date at Red Mountain.
Two drillholes to the north of the Red Mountain area returned higher lithium grades than its southern counterparts, indicating that the project may host a high-grade zone.
A recent extension further north has delineated another 630m of strike of the main zone, with surface sampling indicating a potential to extend another 410m north along strike.
Chairman Tony Leibowitz says the company, which has a market capitalisation of $15.45 million, is impressed with the thickness and grade of lithium mineralisation at the Red Mountain project.
“This provides further indication that Red Mountain is unfolding as a lithium discovery of significance in North America,” Leibowitz says.
“With mineralisation now defined by drilling over a strike length of almost 6 kilometres, we are looking forward to seeing what the remaining drill-holes will deliver.”
The company says it plans to advance the project towards a maiden JORC mineral resource estimate later this year.
Astute Metals is a mineral explorer with a portfolio spanning multiple critical mineral deposits in Australia and the US, primarily focusing on the development of lithium and copper for electrification and the global energy transition.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Astute Metals
