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Following the release of the December 2023 PEA1 , and in response to lithium market dynamics, the Root Lithium Project has now been optimised within a new PEA which has strengthened the project economics.
Green Technology Metals Limited (ASX: GT1) (GT1 or the Company), a Canadian-focused multi-asset lithium business, is pleased to announce the completion of its optimisedPreliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the standalone Root Lithium Project. The updated PEA outlines a robust development pathway for the Root Project, featuring a combination of open pit mine and underground mining methods. The processing flowsheet features a hybrid Dense Media Separation (DMS) and Flotation concentrator designed to produce 5.5% Spodumene Concentrate.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The Root Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada has been evaluated on a standalone basis and considering the recently updated Root Project MRE, revised pit optimisations and mine development options and changed lithium market conditions (previous 2023 PEA results were combined with the Company’s Seymour Lithium Project also in Ontario)
- The study confirms favourable economics across alternative mine development scenarios, including both open pit and underground mining, reinforcing Root as a viable and resilient standalone project
- The selected development option for the Root Lithium Project delivers:
- An increase in NPV to US$668 million
- A reduction in pre-production CAPEX, largely due to lower pre-stripping costs
- Reduction in Total Material Movement (TMM)
- Lower NPV and longer payback period due to more conservative SC5.5 pricing assumptions in early processing years
- Significantly improved LOM strip ratio of 8.1:1, driven by underground development—resulting in lower mining costs that help offset reduced revenues
PROJECT DASHBOARD
- The Root Lithium Project underpins GT1’s vertically integrated development strategy and is expected to provide long-term feed to the Company’s planned Lithium Conversion facility in Thunder Bay
- The immediate focus for the Root project will be advancing permitting and consultation activities in parallel with the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS)
"The completion of the optimised PEA marks a major milestone for the Root Lithium Project, confirming it as a technically and economically robust standalone operation. With a longer mine life, reduced upfront capital requirements, and strong economics, Root is well-positioned to support GT1’s broader strategy of establishing a vertically integrated lithium supply chain in Ontario. This study reinforces our confidence in Root as a long-term feed source for the Thunder Bay conversion facility and highlights the project’s strategic importance in the North American battery materials landscape.
The economic advantages of executing a project in Ontario are obvious and compelling, driven by outstanding infrastructure, government incentives and proximity to the North American EV supply chain. We remain committed to advancing our Root Lithium Project to realise our overall strategy in Ontario.”
-GT1 Managing Director, Cameron Henry
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This article includes content from Green Technology Metals 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.
Mithril Silver and Gold Returns 11.5m @ 8.61 g/t Gold, 57.6 g/t Silver from 44.5 Metres in Hole T2DH25-006 at Target 2 Area, Copalquin Property, Mexico
Exploration Progress Update
Drilling at Target 2 (Las Brujas) has returned excellent results, with shallow holes over a 200-metre strike length intersecting very high-grade gold and silver within a broad, near-surface structure. Hole T2DH25-006 returned 11.5m @ 8.61 g/t gold, 57.6 g/t silver from 44.5m, including 3.85m @ 25.33 g/t gold, 128 g/t silver from 46.65m including 0.85m @ 109.5 g/t gold, 325 g/t silver from 46.65m. Follow-up drilling ~80 metres down dip is planned for the next phase.
Momentum Building Across the Copalquin District – Multiple Targets Advancing (Figure 2)
- Exciting Progress at El Peru (Target 2 Extension): The first phase of drilling at El Peru, 400 m east of Las Brujas, has been completed. Multiple shallow drillholes have shown further extension of the mineralized footprint of this emerging high-grade zone (samples dispatched).
- Eastern District Activity Ramps Up: A second exploration camp has been established to support aggressive mapping and target generation at Targets 2 and 3, highlighting our commitment to unlocking the eastern potential of the district.
- High-Potential for additional Discovery at Target 5 – El Apomal: A new target has been defined at the historic El Apomal workings. A 130-metre underground adit has been dewatered, mapped, and sampled (assays pending), and a surface vein has been traced over 300 metres — a compelling new drill target developing.
- District-Scale Potential Confirmed: Over 1,000 metres of vertical relief between Target 2 and Target 5 across 5 km demonstrates the immense scale and structural complexity of the Copalquin district, underscoring its potential to host a large, multi-target mineralized system.
- Resource Expansion Underway at Target 1: Deep drilling at the El Refugio structure continues to intercept the targeted zone, with samples dispatched for assay. Drilling success here will directly contribute to an upcoming Target 1 resource update.
“We’re advancing on multiple fronts across the Copalquin district, with strong drill results at Las Brujas, exciting new potential at El Apomal, and ongoing success at our flagship Target 1 resource area,” said John Skeet, CEO and Managing Director. “The scale of this system is becoming increasingly evident, with multiple mineralized zones across the district. With drilling, mapping, and sampling all in full swing, we’re well positioned to continue building momentum and unlock significant value through discovery and resource growth.”
COPALQUIN GOLD-SILVER DISTRICT, DURANGO STATE, MEXICO
Figure 1 Copalquin District location map, locations of mining and exploration activity and local infrastructure
With 100 historic underground gold-silver mines and workings plus 198 surface workings/pits throughout 70km2 of mining concession area, Copalquin is an entire mining district with high-grade exploration results and a maiden JORC resource. To date there are several target areas in the district with one already hosting a high-grade gold-silver JORC mineral resource estimate (MRE) at the Target 1 area (El Refugio-La Soledad)1 and a NI 43-101 Technical Report filed on SEDAR+, supported by a conceptional underground mining study completed on the maiden resource in early 2022 (see ASX announcement 01 March 2022 and metallurgical test work (see ASX Announcement 25 February 2022). There is considerable strike and depth potential to increase the resource at El Refugio and at other target areas across the district, plus the underlying geologic system that is responsible for the widespread gold-silver mineralisation.
With the district-wide gold and silver occurrences and rapid exploration success, it is clear the Copalquin District is developing into another significant gold-silver district like the many other districts in this prolific Sierra Madre Gold-Silver Trend of Mexico.
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This article includes content from Mithril Silver and Gold, 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.
Exceptional Lithium Intercept Extends Red Mountain Discovery Further to the North
Key Highlights
- Outstanding lithium mineralisation returned in assays for diamond drill-hole RMDD003, which intersected:
- 32.4m @ 3,260ppm Li from 57.2m, including 8.6m of ultra high-grade mineralisation @ 5,060ppm Li from 67.7m;
- 13.8m @ 1,330ppm Li from 39.6m; and
- 23.3m @ 1,610ppm Li from 94.4m to end-of-hole
- RMDD003 marks the highest-grade lithium intercept recorded to date at Red Mountain.
- Mineralisation successfully extended 630m north of previous northernmost intersection in hole RMDD002.
- Hole ends in lithium, with mineralisation remaining open down-dip to the east and along strike to the north.
- Assays pending from five other recently completed drill- holes.
To hear CEO Matt Healy discuss this ASX Release click here
The thick zones of lithium mineralisation encountered in the northernmost drill-hole at Red Mountain highlight the increasing scale of the project, with strong lithium mineralisation now intersected in all drill- holes spanning a north-south strike extent of over 5.6km and surface sample geochemistry indicating further potential to the north, south and west of the current drilled extents7, 9 (Figure 3).
Of particular significance in hole RMDD003 is the high-grade nature of the mineralisation. The nearest drill-hole is RMDD002, which intersected 32.1m @ 2,050ppm within a broader 86.9m intersection at 1,470ppm Li from 18.3m. The high-grade zone in RMDD002 has persisted north to RMDD003, and increased in grade significantly to over 3,000ppm lithium.
Assays are pending for the other five holes drilled as part of the April diamond drilling campaign.
Astute Chairman, Tony Leibowitz, said:
“Our 2025 exploration campaign is off to a fantastic start, with exceptional assays returned for the first step-out diamond hole, RMDD003. We are impressed by the thickness and grade of the mineralisation, with the high-grade intercept returned from this hole showing that the previously identified high-grade zone extends for a considerable distance to the north.
“This provides further indication that Red Mountain is unfolding as a lithium discovery of significance in North America. With mineralisation now defined by drilling over a strike length of almost 6 kilometres, we are looking forward to seeing what the remaining drill-holes will deliver. The information obtained from this round of drilling should put us on a clear trajectory to advance Red Mountain towards a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate later this year.”
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 Formation2. 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 Project3, American Battery Technology Corporation’s (OTCMKTS: ABML) 15.8Mt LCE Tonopah Flats deposit4 and American Lithium (TSX.V: LI) 9.79Mt LCE TLC Lithium Project5.
Astute has completed substantial surface sampling campaigns at Red Mountain, which indicate widespread lithium anomalism in soils and confirmed lithium mineralisation in bedrock with some exceptional grades of up to 4,150ppm Li2,8 (Figure 3).
A total of 13 RC and diamond drill holes have been drilled at the project for a combined 1,944m, prior to this current drilling program. These campaigns were highly successful, intersecting strong lithium mineralisation in every hole9.
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 test-work has indicated the potential to upgrade the Red Mountain mineralisation10,11.
Figure 1. RMDD003 interpretative cross-section, lithium geochemistry and (25-35m off-section) rock chip samples
Results
Hole RMDD003 successfully intersected three zones of lithium mineralised clay-bearing mudstones and sandstone, separated by narrow zones of unmineralised rocks (Figure 1). The intersections are as follows:
- 13.8m @ 1,330ppm Li / 0.71% LCE from 39.6m to 53.4m;
- 32.4m @ 3,260ppm Li / 1.74% LCE from 57.2m to 89.6m; and
- 23.3m @ 1,610ppm Li / 0.86% LCE from 94.4m to End-of-hole (117.7m).
The best grades were developed in the most clay-rich zones (Figure 2). An internal very high-grade zone of 8.6m returned a grade of 5,060ppm Li, with a maximum single sample grade of 5,660ppm Li from 69.2-70.7m (227-232ft), which is the drill sample with the highest lithium grade achieved to date at the project.
Click here for the full ASX Release
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.