Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) plans to continue exploration at the Finniss District and other regional projects in the Northern Territory this year.
Final 2024 programs will be developed following receipt of all assay results from the 2023 program, which was completed in three phases.
The first focused on resource definition drilling to support the BP33 and Carlton studies. As previously reported, a key outcome of this work was that the BP33 Mineral Resource Estimate increased to 10.5Mt @ 1.53% Li2O and increased from 69% to 89% in the Measured and Indicated Categories.
Core Lithium says these increased measured and indicated categories are being used to revise the mine plan as part of the BP33 Feasibility Study.
The second phase of the 2023 drill program focused on infill drilling and resource extension at the Lees-Booths, Hang Gong, Ah Hoy and Penfolds deposits; these are the majority of the new results reported in this update.
Core notes that the results from this program demonstrate the prospectivity of the Finniss region and will be used to support new updated resource estimations and the development of the growth pathway for Core.
As data from geochemical and geophysical surveys became available, including ANT (Ambient Noise Tomography), the third phase of the exploration program moved to drill test new targets identified.
Drilling was completed in mid-December and laboratory assay work is underway. Exploration drilling was performed by a fleet consisting of up to three diamond drill rigs (DD), four reverse circulation drill rigs (RC) and a rotary air blast rig (RAB), collectively drilling more than 68,000m over the calendar year.
Core Lithium CEO Gareth Manderson says the 2023 exploration program increased Core’s confidence and understanding of the BP33 and Carlton ore bodies.
“And in addition to expanding its understanding of these ore bodies, the program has also successfully identified new drill targets in the Finniss region.
While there is still more work to do to analyse all drill results, the results that we do have available confirm the prospectivity of the Finniss region. The team will continue to analyse the results and determine the exploration strategy moving forward.”
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Core Lithium
