Pursuit Minerals (ASX:PUR) has commenced diamond drilling at its Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project in Argentina.
The company started drilling at DDH-3 within the Mito tenement to test a large conductive system identified through advanced controlled source audio-frequency magnetotellurics (CSAMT) reprocessing.
The data revealed a laterally continuous conductive body extending from approximately 250m to beyond 1km depth, representing a ‘high-priority’ lithium brine target.
According to Pursuit, the drilling is designed to support further growth of its recently upgraded 1.264-million-tonne lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) JORC mineral resource estimate grading 424 milligrams per litre of lithium (Li).
The resource comprises an indicated resource of 705,000 tonnes at 443mg/L Li and an inferred resource of 559,000 tonnes at 405mg/L Li.
Managing Director and CEO Aaron Revelle says the drilling at DDH-3 represents a “significant milestone” for the company.
“The advanced CSAMT reprocessing transformed our understanding of the Mito tenement,” Revelle says.
“Importantly, this is not an isolated anomaly, but a basin-scale geological feature displaying remarkable continuity across multiple survey lines.”
DDH-3 marks the first drilling program since the completion of Pursuit’s Prefeasibility Study (PFS) and upgraded mineral resource.
The drill hole is expected to provide critical geological and hydrogeological information to refine the company’s understanding of basin architecture, aquifer continuity, permeability, and lithium distribution.
Following the completion of DDH-3 at the Mito tenement, Pursuit intends to mobilise the drill rig to the recently acquired Demasía Rio Grande I tenement to evaluate the interpreted continuation of the system.
Environmental submissions associated with the Rio Grande I and Demasía Rio Grande I tenements are likewise expected to be lodged in the coming weeks.
The company is also finalising technical addendums to its recently completed 5,000 tonnes per annum lithium carbonate PFS.
Meanwhile, development activities are still underway at Rio Grande Sur, including progressing approvals for the relocation of the company’s pilot plant to the Sal Rio 02 tenement and construction of evaporation test ponds.
Pursuit Minerals is an Australian explorer and developer focused on its flagship Rio Grande Sur Project in Argentina’s Salta province.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Unsplash
