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Lithium development company Critical Resources Limited ASX:CRR (“Critical Resources” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that the first drill hole completed as part of its summer 2023 resource extension drilling program, has intersected 74.4 meters of spodumene-bearing pegmatite1 at the Company’s 100%-owned Mavis Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada.
Highlights
- Outstanding start to the summer drilling program at Mavis Lake, with the first drill hole intersecting a massive 74.4 metres of continuous spodumene-bearing pegmatite
- Diamond drill hole MF23-207 intersected 74.4m of pegmatite with and average estimate of 20% spodumene
- The intercept is outside the current Mineral Resource envelope and is expected to result in a meaningful increase in total Resource tonnage
- Extension drilling will continue throughout the next few months to support a future Resource upgrade
- Assays are expected back form the lab in 6 to 8 weeks
- Planning continues in order to drill test the highly prospective Gullwing and Tot Lakes pegmatites which are contiguous to the Mavis Lake tenements
The drill hole which was designed to extend beyond the known mineralisation area that defines the maiden 8Mt lithium Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE") at Mavis Lake (refer ASX Announcement 5 May 2023)
The intercept is the widest interval of spodumene mineralisation recorded to date, highlighting the Project’s significant upside potential. Full exploration results are provided in Appendix 1.
Critical Resources Managing Director, Alex Cheeseman said:
“Extensional and in-fill drilling has been carefully planned as we step off known, modelled mineralisation to upgrade and expand the maiden Resource however, the size of this intercept has well and truly taken Mavis Lake to a new level.”
“The intercept, along with other recently released exploration results are not currently included in our 8.0Mt Resource. Targeted drilling will continue over the coming months and we are truly excited as to the resource potential of this world class asset.”
“We are also working concurrently to test our Gullwing and Tot Lake pegmatites, where we have 8km of pegmatite clusters to test which can potentially add additional resources.”
Spodumene Mineral Percentage Estimates1
The intercept has been recorded on the western area of the Mavis Lake Main Zone. Figure 1 shows approximately 74.4m of continuous spodumene mineralisation from drillhole MF23-207, with cross section shown in Figure 2. Drillhole summary provided in table 1, with visual estimates of spodumene mineralisation shown in Table 2.
MF23-207 was designed to test the northern extents of the Main Zone for the purposes of both in-fill and extending the mineralisation. This spodumene-bearing pegmatite intercept is ~40m away from previous intercepts and will continue to expand the mineralisation shapes further down-dip.
The pinching and swelling of the Main Zone is complex and warrants further in-fill and extensional drilling to determine the orebody’s true geometry. The true thickness of this intercept has yet to be determined due to the irregular contact angles and the location of the pegmatite within the project mineral shapes from the most recent MRE. The significant down-hole width is expected to contribute towards additional tonnage for a MRE upgrade.
Spodumene mineralisation is persistent throughout the pegmatite, averaging approximately 20%, with up to meter-scale highs of over 50% of large, white-grey spodumene laths. The mineralisation appears similar to previously drilled high-grade Li2O intercepts. The assay results will determine the actual lithium grade of this intercept, and are expected to be received in 6-8 weeks.
Figure 1 – Approximately 74.4m of continuous spodumene mineralisation from drill hole MF23-207, intercepted from 176.15m to 250.55m down-hole
Figure 2 – Cross Section of Drill hole MF23-207, in context to previous drilling
Future Work
Immediate drilling will continue to test proximal to MF23-207 to gain an understanding for the large swell area within the Main Zone. More drilling will test laterally and to the north for resource expansion.
Future in-fill drilling will test the up-dip extents of this swell area. Drilling will also test for more lower stacks of mineralised pegmatites that have been previously intersected.
High priority resource expansion at the Main Zone includes testing pegmatite 9, which has never been drill tested. Priority targets are all located in the western portion of the Main Zone.
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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.
Click here for the full ASX Release
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.
