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Lithium exploration and project development company Critical Resources Limited ASX:CRR (“Critical Resources” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise that it has received further strong assay results from ongoing drilling at the Mavis Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada.
Highlights
- Further outstanding assays extend the Swell Zone at Mavis Lake.
- Drilling intersects consistent thick, high-grade mineralisation, with highlights including:
- Drill-hole MF23-225 with 36.75m @ 1.12% Li2O from 208m down-hole;
- Drill-hole MF23-222 with 17.9m @ 1.09% Li2O from 247.5m down hole; and
- Drill-hole MF23-217 with 36.65m @ 0.92% Li2O from 215m down-hole, including 28m @ 1.01% Li2O from 223m down-hole.
- Swell Zone extended up-dip to the east, close to surface, and down-dip to the west.
- Drilling continues, aimed at further extending the Swell Zone and adding tonnage to the next planned Resource upgrade.
- Assay results pending from 15 drill holes.
Drilling Continues to Target the Swell Zone
Recently received assay results have continued to validate the Swell Zone theory at Mavis Lake, with drilling continuing to build on the discovery intercept of 74.4m @ 1.18% Li2O and intersect thick and consistent zones of strongly mineralised pegmatite.
The latest batch of assays, which includes intercepts of up to 36.75m at 1.12% Li2O, has extended the Swell Zone up-dip to the east, confirming that it trends towards surface.
Meanwhile, drill-holes MF23-217 and MF23-222 have both extended the mineralisation towards the west, increasing confidence that the Swell Zone trend remains open.
While the Company awaits pending permits to further test the western extent of the Swell Zone, in- fill drilling to test the Swell Zone up-dip has delivered further success with drill hole MF23-225.
Tight in-fill drilling also provides confidence for an increase in Resource category as part of a future Mineral Resource Estimate upgrade at Mavis Lake, scheduled for the first half of 2024.
Significant assay results are shown in Table 1, full exploration results can be seen in Appendix 1.
Swell Zone Definition
Drill-hole MF23-207 intersected 74.4m at 1.18% Li2O and first identified the significant Swell Zone within the Mavis Lake Main Zone deposit.
The discovery of the Swell Zone has delivered a substantial increase in mineralised width, over the initial projected MRE ore shapes, highlighting the potential for recent drilling to substantially increase the maiden MRE of 8.0Mt at 1.07% Li2O1.
Drilling to date has confirmed consistent, thick high-grade lithium mineralisation within the Swell Zone over a strike length of approximately 300m, sitting obliquely to and striking across the current MRE.
The geometry and orientation of the Swell Zone mineralisation as defined by recent intercepts is shown in Long Section and the Cross-Sections in Figures 2-6.
Importantly, the Swell Zone remains open laterally to the west, with step-out drilling and testing of the western extents of the Swell Zone the focus of current drilling.
Figure 1: Plan Map of the Mavis Lake Main Zone and Cross Section references
Figure 2: Long Section illustrating the current projection of known (assayed) ~300m strike of the Swell Zone (purple) relative to the MRE resource shape (red).
Table 1 – Significant Assay Results Drill-holes MF23-216 to MF23-225
Continuity of the Swell Zone
Prior to the intersection in the Swell Zone discovery hole MF23-207, the wider intercepts within the Mavis Lake Main Zone were thought to be isolated localized swells.
Drilling that followed up the MF23-207 intercept has shown that these previous wider zones are in fact part of a continuous, thicker zone of mineralisation that runs through the Main Zone deposit.
The continuity of the Swell Zone can be seen in Figures 3 to 6, showing a shallow plunge trend from near surface on the east, to the deeper intercepts located towards the west.
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This article includes content from Critical Resources, 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.
CRR: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.
