Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) has reported further ‘broad, high-grade’ hits from exploration activities at its Finniss Lithium Project near Darwin in the Northern Territory.
‘High-grade, spodumene-rich’ intersections were produced from two recent deep diamond drill holes at the project’s BP33 deposit, including:
- Hole NMRD016:
- 57.35m @ 1.83% Li2O; including
- 11.51m @ 2.37% Li2O
- 10.48m @ 2.05% Li2O
- 57.35m @ 1.83% Li2O; including
- Hole FRCD023:
- 51.0m @ 1.63% Li2O; including
- 17.0m @ 2.12% Li2O
- 9.0m @ 2.21% Li2O
- 51.0m @ 1.63% Li2O; including
A ‘significant’ southern extension to spodumene-bearing pegmatite at BP33 was also identified from additional drilling. The company notes that it expects intersections outside of the current Mineral Resource at the deposit to deliver ‘substantial’ extensions.
Speaking on the update, Core Lithium Managing Director Stephen Biggins said: “Our prime directive is to deliver first production of high-quality lithium concentrate from the Finniss Project this year in the midst of a very high lithium price and high operating margin environment.
These new world-class lithium drilling results reflect the confidence Core has in delivering significant resource growth from the Finniss Project that will add to our life of mine and our capacity to materially increase lithium production from northern Australia in the future to keep up with rapidly growing global demand.”
“These new world-class lithium drilling results reflect the confidence Core has in delivering significant resource growth from the Finniss Project”
Drilling at BP33 throughout the 2021 field season included deep extensional drilling below existing mineralisation via two diamond holes, along with a 7-hole RC program testing for a southern extension to the pegmatite that hosts the prospect’s mineralisation.
Both diamond holes intersected ‘high-quality’ spodumene-bearing pegmatite mineralisation, supporting the current interpretation that mineralisation is improving at depth.
The company said that the continuity in grade and thickness, together with the position of the intersections outside or on the boundary of the current Mineral Resource envelope, is expected to result in an increase in the BP33 Mineral Resource Estimate.
Cross-section as the BP33 prospect displaying current and previous drill holesCore Lithium’s Finniss Lithium Project is located south of Darwin Port in the Northern Territory and boasts ‘world-class and high-quality’ lithium suitable for use in high-grade lithium batteries used in the production of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.
The Project, which has been awarded Major Project Status by the Australian Federal Government, is scheduled to commence production by the end of 2022.
Moving forward, further drilling is planned at BP33 for during coming field season to both expand the resource at depth and test for further extensions to the south.
Expanded exploration and resource drilling will also recommence and ramp-up in early Q2 2022 across the entire Project.
Further assay results from the 2021 campaign are expected to be reported over the coming weeks.
Images: Core Lithium Ltd
