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Jindalee Resources Limited (to be renamed “Jindalee Lithium Limited”) (Jindalee, the Company) announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at Jindalee’s 100% owned McDermitt Lithium Project (US) (Figure 1)1.
- Exploration Target confirms excellent potential for further resource growth
- The Exploration Target is in addition to the Mineral Resource Estimate announced February 20231
- Anomalous lithium assays from surface sampling highlight further potential at McDermitt
The 2023 MRE for McDermitt contains a combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Inventory of 3.0 Billion tonnes at 1,340ppm Li for a total of 21.5 Million tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) at 1,000 ppm cut-off grade. At 21.5 Mt LCE, McDermitt is the largest lithium deposit in the US by contained lithium in Mineral Resource, and a globally significant resource (Table 3), with the deposit remaining open to the west and south (Figure 1).
Jindalee is also pleased to announce an independently estimated Exploration Target Range (ETR) at McDermitt. The ETR of 300 – 700 Million tonnes at 1,100 – 1,400ppm Li (at 1,000ppm Li cut-off) is extrapolated from drilling completed at the Project (Table 1, Figure 1).
Table 1 – Summary of Exploration Target Range at cut-off of 1000ppm. LCE calculated using the midpoint of the range.
Recent relogging of McDermitt drilling, combined with regional mapping and sampling, has recognised up to 12 distinctive and laterally continuous stratigraphic units which can be tracked across the Project area. The Exploration Target surrounds and abuts the 2023 MRE and is extrapolated from 62 holes drilled at McDermitt from 2018 to 2022. Material for the MRE extends to a maximum distance of 1,200m from the nearest hole, with the ETR extending to a maximum of 1,500m from the nearest hole (Figure 1).
In August 2022 Jindalee submitted an Exploration Plan of Operations (EPO) to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with the EPO deemed complete by the BLM in May 20232. Once approved, the EPO will allow Jindalee to significantly increase on-site activity, including up to 160 holes designed to both infill the 2023 MRE and test areas currently covered by the Exploration Target. Jindalee expects the EPO to be approved 2H 2024, with drilling to commence soon after.
Furthermore, sampling of weathered sediments exposed in drainages west and south of the Mineral Resource and Exploration Target areas has returned strongly anomalous lithium values, indicating excellent potential to locate additional lithium mineralisation in these areas (Figure 1, Table 2).
Figure 1 – Plan view of the McDermitt Lithium Project with 2023 Mineral Resource1 (at 1523mRL), completed drilling, Exploration Target and Surface Sampling locations outside the Mineral Resource and Exploration Target areas.
Methodology
The methodology used for the ETR was identical to that used for the 2023 MRE1. A total of 62 drillholes and 97 density measurements were used for the estimation of both the 2023 MRE and the ETR, with lithium estimated by Ordinary Kriging. The block size for estimation was 200mE by 200mN by 5mRL, with sub-celling permitted to 40mE by 40mN by 1mRL.
The ETR estimates were guided by stratigraphy, which is the major control on the continuity of both lithium grade and geology, with material for the ETR limited to within 1,500m of the nearest hole. The entire mineralisation inventory (2023 MRE and ETR) occurs within 215m of surface.
A summary of all drill data included in both the 2023 MRE and the ETR is included in Annexure A. All other details pertaining to the reporting of exploration results and the 2023 MRE and the ETR are detailed in Annexure B.
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This article includes content from Jindalee Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
JRL:AU
Spodumene Pegmatite Discovery at Esperança Project in Brazil Yields LIBS Results up to 4.04% Li2O
The discovery has been made during early-stage exploration programs which include project scale geological mapping, ground reconnaissance, and soil sampling. These early-stage programs remain ongoing with further results to come over the coming weeks. The discovery supports the Company’s exploration thesis and uplifts the remaining prospectivity across all three project areas: Canabrava, Caraíbas and Esperança projects.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Artisanal excavations reveal a lithium bearing pegmatite with elongate crystalline spodumene crystals up to 50cm in length
- LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) results of spodumene crystals return up to 18,800 ppm Lithium, or 4.04% Li2O
- Discovery provides walk up drill target for fully funded drilling campaign to begin Q1 2025
- Soil sampling and geological mapping continues across the Esperança, Canabrava and Caraíbas projects with further results due over the coming weeks
Lightning Minerals Managing Director Alex Biggs said, “I am highly encouraged by these results from Brazil. As I have spoken about, as a team we are committed to discovery and completing our works in a diligent and structured manner, the proof of which is in these results. The Company is progressing its projects in Brazil quickly and cost effectively and generating significant results for the business which we feel will be transformational. I am proud of and congratulate our geology teams both in Australia and Brazil who have conducted themselves in a professional and astute manner which has been crucial in making a discovery such as this. This is a great first step for us in Brazil and is testament to the prospectivity of the region as I have discussed previously. We look forward to drilling in Q1 2025 and further results to come imminently from all three project areas in Brazil. I would also like to thank our shareholders who have supported our vision and exploration strategy. As a Company we are firmly committed to the lithium thematic and firmly committed to Brazil where we see significant potential moving forwards”.
Lithium Discovery at Esperança Project
During geological mapping fieldwork conducted in mid-November 2024 field geologists encountered a previously unknown historical artisanal mine within the Esperança project area. The site presented with a small access which opened into a set of sub vertical shafts sunk several meters into schists of the Salinas formation. Upon investigation the geology team has discovered pegmatitic lithologies in the walls of the excavations, of which the suite of minerals indicates inclusion of macro crystalline (up to 50cm) elongate crystals of spodumene as shown in Figure 1(a) and Figure 1(b).
Figure 1a (left): Brazilian geologist Vitor Araujo Alves showing the spodumene rich portion of the zoned pegmatite discovered at the Esperança Property. Figure 1b (right): Large elongate spodumene crystals (Spd) up to 50cm in length showing homogeneous growth patterns amongst a quartz (Qtz) and Feldspar (Fdsp) rich matrix
The Company’s geologists have collected selective mineral specimen grab samples in sample VLM207 (Figure 2). Six separate minerals have been analysed via a SciAps Z-903 hand-held LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) device which has returned lithium endowment of up to 18,800 ppm lithium, which equates to a lithium oxide percentage of 4.04% Li2O.
The SciAps Z-903 handheld LIBS device is considered a qualitative analysis technique only and is used as an in-field preliminary check to establish if a mineral is lithium-bearing. Certified laboratory assays are required to provide accurate, quantitative analysis. A table of the six SciAps Z-903 handheld LIBS results testing the spodumene crystals is shown in Table 1. A full table of results are presented in Appendix 2, Table 2.
While the current field observations indicate that the mineral identified is a lithium-bearing mineral, the percentage of lithium produced from the LIBS analyser does not correlate to an accurate quantitative measurement of the lithium concentration of the mineral itself, or to the overall grade of the pegmatite.
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This article includes content from Lightning Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
