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Latin Resources Limited (ASX: LRS) (“Latin” or “the Company”) is pleased to provide a company update on the latest drilling results from resource definition drilling currently underway at the Company’s 100% owned and fully funded Salinas Lithium Project (“Salinas”) in Brazil.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Latest drilling results continue to confirm the expansion of the Colina pegmatite swarm, providing additional confidence in a significant resource upgrade in June.
- Latest results include:
- SADD078: 14.00m @ 1.55% Li2O from 323.00m
including: 5.00m @ 1.99% Li2O from 323.00m - SADD080: 12.59m @ 1.46% Li2O from 274.46m
- SADD081: 16.92m @ 1.36% Li2O from 242.48m
- SADD082: 27.15m @ 1.45% Li2O from 237.00m
- SADD078: 14.00m @ 1.55% Li2O from 323.00m
- Systematic resource definition drilling progressing well; high-grade pegmatite swarm extends over an area of approximately one kilometre by one kilometre to a depth of 400m below surface, open in all directions.
- Colina JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) upgrade remains on schedule to be published in June.
- Detailed full pilot plant DMS + float metallurgical test work program scheduled to commence in Q3 2023, to be immediately followed by hydrometallurgy test work to produce final sulphate and other lithium products.
- Salinas South drilling to commence next quarter.
Latin Resources’ Geology Manager, Tony Greenaway commented:
“We continue to see great results coming out of the resource definition drilling at our Colina Deposit. The consistency in both the pegmatite thickness and lithium grades is extremely encouraging, bolstering our confidence to be able to deliver what we believe will be a significant upgrade to the Colina mineral resource in June.
“We are very focused on finding the extents of the rapidly growing system at Colina, where the pegmatite swarm remains open in all directions. Drilling is progressing very well, and we are on track to close off our drilling database in mid-May to enable the JORC Resource estimation process to commence in June.”
Resource definition drilling
The Company’s 2023, 65,000 metre resource definition diamond drilling campaign is progressing well, with a total of 32,000 meters now completed in 109 diamond drill holes at the flagship Colina Lithium Deposit in Brazil.
Recently received assay results from drill core samples continue to highlight the consistency of the high-grade pegmatite swarm at Colina, with mineralisation now defined over an area of one kilometre by one kilometre to a depth of 400m below surface (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The pegmatite swarm remains open in all directions and at depth. Drilling is ongoing.
The ongoing expansion of the Colina lithium pegmatites, as well as the strong correlation seen between drillholes and drill sections, provides the Company with increased confidence of the potential to significantly grow the existing 13.2Mt @ 1.2% Li2O Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”)1. SGS geological consultants have completed site inspections of the new drill core including the 33.07m @ 1.83% Li2O pegmatite (Figure 3) intersected in SADD0772, in preparation for the MRE update which is scheduled for June 2023.
Latest drilling intersections include3:
- SADD078: 14.00m @ 1.55% Li2O from 323.00m
Including: 5.00m @ 1.99% Li2O from 323.00m - SADD080: 12.59m @ 1.46% Li2O from 274.46m
- SADD081: 16.92m @ 1.36% Li2O from 242.48m
- SADD082: 27.15m @ 1.45% Li2O from 237.00m
Figure 1: Drill section A-A’ showing the existing Colina MRE block model, and selected pegmatite intersections (refer to Figure 2 for section location)
Figure 2: Colina Deposit drill collar plan highlighting potential MRE growth areas, including Colina West and Colina South
COMPANY UPDATE - BRAZIL
Ongoing works at Colina
The Company’s board recently approved an aggressive exploration budget for the wider Salinas Lithium Project. This includes the addition of four diamond drilling rigs, taking the total rigs onsite to eight, operating on a double shift basis, with an estimated 65,000m planned to be drilled in 2023.
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This article includes content from Latin 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.
LRS:AU
Beneficiation Delivers 4,480ppm Lithium Clay Concentrate at Red Mountain Project, USA
Key Highlights
- Follow-up Falcon C beneficiation testwork completed on diamond drill core samples from the Red Mountain Project.
- Sample upgraded from 3,245ppm to 4,481ppm Lithium.
- Successful removal of 51.8% of dense material and concurrent 38% increase in lithium grade.
- Reinforces the April 2025 results indicating that Red Mountain mineralisation may be upgraded using beneficiation.
- Attrition Scrubbing beneficiation testwork now underway for comparison with the Falcon testwork results.
- Leaching testwork to be undertaken on Falcon and Attrition Scrubbing products to confirm reduced acid consumptions.
Following on from the results announced on 22 April 2025, this second phase of Falcon Beneficiation testwork was designed to concentrate lithium-bearing clay and remove unmineralized gangue (waste) in order to decrease mass and increase lithium grade. In a mineral processing context, a reduction in tonnes and volume processed with an increased head-grade typically results in lower processing costs.
This second Falcon testwork program was conducted by Sepro Laboratories (Sepro) and utilised high- clay drill core samples from hole RMDD002 (which intersected 86.9m @ 1,470ppm Li from 18.3m4). This follow-up test was designed to establish how high-clay material performed using the Falcon method, for comparison with results from the previous test conducted on lower grade mineralisation from Red Mountain.
The latest result indicates a strong ability to upgrade mineralisation, achieving a reduction of sample mass by 51.8% with a concurrent increase in lithium grade of 38% (from 3,245 to 4,481ppm Li), with an overall 66.6% lithium recovery. These results compare favourably with the previous round of testwork, exhibiting both a greater upgrade in lithium and reduction in mass, with a substantial 43% reduction in calcium and carbon (interpreted as calcite removal) expected to result in a significant reduction in acid consumption. The Company has commissioned Attrition Scrubbing testwork – another method of beneficiation – for comparison with the Falcon results. Once complete, sample products from both the Falcon and Attrition Scrubbing tests will be assessed for acid consumption in future leachability tests.
Astute Chairman, Tony Leibowitz, said:“The demonstration of a commercial pathway to a lithium product is the natural complement to the establishment of a Mineral Resource. It is for this reason that Astute has actively advanced workflows for both exploration drilling and metallurgical testing at Red Mountain, in tandem. These positive results, which reinforce the previous results from the project, represent the systematic de-risking of what continues to emerge as an important US- based critical metals project.”
Figure 1. Clay-rich RMDD002 drill-core from 160-165ft (3,280ppm Li) used in Falcon beneficiation testwork.
Background
Located in central-eastern Nevada (Figure 4), adjacent to the Grand Army of the Republic Highway (Route 6), which links the regional mining towns of Ely and Tonopah, the Red Mountain Project was staked by Astute in August 2023.
The Project area has broad mapped tertiary lacustrine (lake) sedimentary rocks known locally as the Horse Camp Formation1. Elsewhere in the state of Nevada, equivalent rocks host large lithium deposits (see Figure 4) such as Lithium Americas’ (NYSE: LAC) 62.1Mt LCE Thacker Pass Project2 and American Lithium (TSX.V: LI) 9.79Mt LCE TLC Lithium Project3.
Astute has completed substantial surface sampling campaigns at Red Mountain, which indicate widespread lithium anomalism in soils (Figure 3) and confirmed lithium mineralisation in bedrock with some exceptional grades of up to 4,150ppm Li1,5.
A total of 19 RC and diamond drill holes have been drilled at the project to date for a combined 3,666m. Exploration drilling has been highly successful, with strong lithium mineralisation intersected in every hole for which assays have been received9.
Scoping leachability testwork on mineralised material from Red Mountain indicates high leachability of lithium of up to 98%, varying with temperature, acid strength and leaching duration, and proof-of- concept beneficiation testwork has indicated the potential to upgrade the Red Mountain mineralisation6,8.
About Beneficiation
The primary purpose of beneficiation is to optimise the value of mineralised material by separating unwanted waste material (gangue) from valuable minerals.
Testwork conducted to date at Red Mountain indicates that clay-hosted lithium mineralisation may be upgraded through beneficiation, which seeks to remove coarser grained material, such as particles of sand, that do not contain appreciable lithium8. Successful beneficiation can result in reduced reagent consumption, reduced plant wear and tear, and a reduced environmental footprint.
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This article includes content from Astute Metals NL, 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.
Pursuit Dispatchs 99.5% Lithium Carbonate Samples to Potential Strategic Partners as Feasibility Studies Progress
HIGHLIGHTS
- Final product assays confirm 99.5% lithium carbonate purity, upgraded from pilot output via bench scale processing.
- Certified samples dispatched to multiple potential offtake and strategic partners for qualification.
- Feasibility study progressing for low cost, 5,000tpa operation at Rio Grande Sur.
- Ongoing small batch lithium carbonate production to support offtake qualification while preserving capital discipline in current market conditions.
- Pursuit continues to advance its dual-pronged growth strategy progressing Rio Grande Sur while accelerating the evaluation of strategic gold, silver, and copper acquisitions in Argentina.
Figure 1 – Pursuit’s 99.5% Li₂CO₃ Sample Ready for Dispatch to Potential Offtake Partners
In relation to the dispatch of samples, Pursuit Managing Director & CEO, Aaron Revelle, said:
“Achieving 99.5% lithium carbonate purity is a major technical milestone for Pursuit and a clear demonstration of the capability embedded within our flowsheet, team, and pilot plant infrastructure. It not only validates the compatibility of our process design with Rio Grande Sur brines but also confirms our ability to deliver a consistently high-quality product suited to a wide range of industrial and energy storage applications. Dispatching these samples to potential offtake partners is a critical first step in our commercialisation pathway, enabling product qualification and accelerating engagement with strategic customers in tough market conditions. As we transition into the next phase of development, our focus is firmly on advancing feasibility for our 5,000tpa operation and securing long-term partnerships that will underpin the future production and growth of the Rio Grande Sur Project.”
Initial pilot production at Pursuit’s 250tpa Pilot Plant in Salta successfully produced 15 kilograms of lithium carbonate at 98.9% purity, validating both the compatibility of the Rio Grande Sur brine and the efficiency of the Company’s conventional processing flowsheet. To enhance product quality and simulate potential refinement steps at commercial scale, a portion of this material was further treated at bench scale using fractional crystallisation (FX) and ion exchange (IX) techniques. These post processing steps upgraded the product to 99.5% purity, meeting established benchmarks for technical-grade lithium carbonate.
The final product assays confirm not only the effectiveness of Pursuit’s downstream purification strategy but also the scalability and robustness of its broader flowsheet. This achievement represents a critical milestone on the path to commercial readiness supporting key feasibility assumptions, validating end product quality, and enabling active engagement with prospective offtake partners.
Pursuit is well positioned to undertake additional small-batch production as required to meet partner qualification needs and advance strategic discussions. Furthermore, it demonstrates Pursuit’s capability to produce high-purity lithium carbonate suitable for industrial use, with potential to meet battery-grade specifications through additional refinement.
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This article includes content from Pursuit 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.
