Venari Minerals (ASX:VMS) has received Bureau of Land Management approval for six additional drill sites at its Red Mountain Lithium Project in Nevada, US.
The company plans to conduct infill drilling at the ‘high-grade’ northern zone to upgrade the mineral resource estimate (MRE) from inferred to the higher-confidence indicated category under the JORC 2012 guidelines.
The northern zone hosts 47.9 million tonnes @ 2,193 parts per million (ppm) lithium for 560,000 tonnes of contained lithium carbonate equivalent @ a 1,300ppm lithium cut-off.
“The successful permitting of planned infill drilling in the high-grade northern part of the project puts Venari in a strong position to rapidly advance the Red Mountain Lithium Project toward an upgraded MRE, which will in turn underpin a Scoping Study, replete with project financials,” CEO Matthew Healy says.
The company intends to focus initially on the northern zone, which is expected to form the foundation of a Scoping Study targeted for completion in Q1 2027.
Venari Minerals is currently in discussions with diamond drilling contractors to secure a drill rig and commence drilling as soon as practicable.
The company’s broader Exploration Plan of Operations (EPO) remains in progress under the Trump administration’s expedited National Environmental Policy Act provisions and is expected to be approved in the coming quarter.
The EPO will increase the disturbance allowance from the current 5-acre maximum to up to 100 acres, allowing further drilling in the central part of the project and testing of high-potential exploration target areas.
Red Mountain’s maiden MRE totals 500 million tonnes @ 1,139ppm lithium for 3.03 million tonnes of contained lithium carbonate equivalent @ a 700ppm lithium cut-off.
The project benefits from proximity to infrastructure, being located immediately adjacent to transcontinental Route 6 and 20km west of a 525kV high-voltage transmission line.
The company has secured a 113-acre private property with associated water rights of 592,000 cubic metres per annum, located 6km from the project.
Venari Minerals will be attending the Noosa Mining Conference, held from 22–24 July 2026 at Peppers Noosa Resort in Noosa Heads, Queensland.
Mining.com.au is an official media partner of this year’s conference and will be at the event.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Venari Minerals
