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Lithium development company, Critical Resources Limited (ASX:CRR) (“Critical Resources” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise of further excellent drilling results at the Company’s 100%- owned Mavis Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada. A summary of key exploration results can be seen below, with full exploration results in Appendix 1.
Highlights
- Drilling program continues to deliver excellent results with intercepts at both the Main Zone and South Zone at Mavis Lake
- Significant intercepts include:
- Drill hole MF23-191 with 27.45m of spodumene mineralisation from 222.35m downhole
- Drill hole MF23-192 with 11.75m of spodumene mineralisation from 181.95m downhole
- Drill hole SZ23-012 with 6.05m of spodumene mineralisation from 227.5m downhole
- Drill hole SZ23-021 with 5.60m of spodumene mineralisation from 34.5m downhole
- All results to be incorporated into Mavis Lake’s JORC 2012 compliant Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate
Step out Drilling Success
The Company’s strategy to test new outcrops, adjacent to the Main Zone, as well as concurrently testing extensions of the Main Zone (laterally and at depth) builds upon recent success. Intercepts in the South Zone surround outcrops which have not previously been drill tested.
Mapped pegmatites 8, 10, 11, 12, and 20 have now all been drill tested and found to contain spodumene mineralisation. The Company’s drilling program will continue to test and assess these and other mapped pegmatites, in order to develop a greater understanding of the sub-surface structures and associated mineralisation. These early-stage drilling targets are already showing great potential. Key intercepts from the South Zone can be seen in Table 11.
The testing of the down-dip extension of the Main Zone continues to intercept thick spodumene- bearing pegmatites. The Main Zone remains open at depth. Key Intercepts from the Main Zone can be seen in Table 21.
All results will be incorporated into the Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate currently being prepared. Delivery of assay data, currently backlogged at the laboratory, will dictate the timeline to complete the mineral resource estimate.
Figure 1 – Drill Hole MF23-191 with 27.45 meters of spodumene-bearing pegmatite from 222.35m downhole, with further intercepts from 252.65m downhole 1
Table 1 – Key intercepts and visual assessments from South Zone drilling1
Table 2 – Key intercepts and visual assessments from Main Zone drilling1
Future Work
In addition to an ongoing drilling program at Mavis Lake, technical and environmental studies are underway to support a pending Scoping Study for the Mavis Lake Project.
The Company is awaiting assays from samples collected from more than 47 individual drill holes and will update the market as details are made available.
Critical Resources Managing Director Alex Cheeseman said:
“Our exploration strategy at Mavis Lake continues to deliver excellent results, which will directly feed into the maiden mineral resource estimate. Our drilling campaign and concurrent studies are laying a solid foundation for the next development phase of this highly prospective project.
With each set of assay results, our understanding of the asset grows and so too does our confidence in the project, we are pushing hard to receive all outstanding assays so we can complete our maiden mineral resource estimate as quickly as possible.”
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This article includes content from Critical 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.
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.
