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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 follow-up drilling targeting the recently discovered Swell Zone at the Mavis Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada has intersected further thick mineralised1 pegmatite zones, adding significant momentum to its current resource growth drilling program.
Highlights
- In-fill drilling continues to strengthen and expand the “Swell Zone” at Mavis Lake, with multiple wide mineralised zones logged down-hole after recent drilling including;
- MF23-214 with mineralised intercepts totaling 67.85m including a continuous 53.6m intercept with visual estimates of spodumene of 10%
- MF23-226 with mineralised intercepts totaling 61.75m with visual estimates of spodumene at 15%
- MF23-225 with mineralised intercepts totaling 33.95m with visual estimates of spodumene at 20%
- The new mineralised intercepts are located along trend from the recently reported diamond drill-holes MF23-207 to MF23-211, which returned intersections of 40-74m at grades ranging from 1.18% Li2O to 1.25% Li2O.
- A series of in-fill drilling intercepts have delineated mineralised widths significantly greater than the current Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and has identified possible new mineralised zones, highlighting the potential to add substantial tonnage to a future MRE.
- Assay results from 15 holes are pending and will be released to market as soon as they become available.
Logged intercepts from recent in-fill drilling, along trend from the breakthrough intercept of 74.4m grading 1.18% Li2O including 32.9m @ 1.81% Li2O (see ASX release, 24 July 2023), have continued to highlight the significance of the Swell Zone discovery. This includes several in-fill intercepts which are an order of magnitude wider than previous Resource modelling.
Current drilling forms part of a resource upgrade drilling program which commenced in June 2023. Through its exploration efforts, Critical Resources is seeking to establish Mavis Lake as the largest single-site, JORC Code 2012 Compliant Lithium Resource in Ontario.
Full exploration results are provided in Appendix 1.
In-fill Drilling
Recent drilling continues to successfully intersect the Swell Zone laterally, towards both the east and west. The Company has deliberately opted for a tight in-fill drill-hole spacing (25-50m spacing) to facilitate conversion of as much of the Resource to the higher-confidence Indicated category as part of a future Mineral Resource upgrade.
The Swell Zone occurs within and extends outside of the current Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) shapes and, as such, is expected to add considerable tonnage to a future MRE upgrade.
The Swell Zone is likely emplaced in a remnant shear structure which could be related to regional shear structures. Shearing is located proximally to the pegmatite contacts within the host rock, multiple oriented measurements indicate the direction of the shearing is concordant to the pegmatite emplacement.
The trend of the Swell Zone is becoming more apparent and current drill results illustrate increased understanding of the emplacement, geometry and trend of the mineralised zone.
Figure 1 – Plan view of Mavis Lake with the Figure 3 cross-section reference
While the Swell Zone intercepts contain pervasive spodumene mineralization, the intercepts often contain multiple “core zones” that are characteristic of higher concentrations of spodumene as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 – Large Spodumene lathes in dark grey quartz from drill hole MF23-225
In-fill drilling of the Swell Zone is currently tracking towards the east, with recent logged intercepts in drill-holes MF23-225 and MF23-226 highlighting significant growth potential.
Both drill holes intersected mineralised pegmatite two-three times the width of the current MRE shapes, indicating a clear pathway to resource upgrade in terms of both tonnage and category.
Recent drilling has also identified a possible significant new Lower Zone. An initial intercept from drill hole MF23-208 (13.3m at 1.56% Li2O from 343.9m down-hole – refer to ASX Announcement released 21 August 2023) has been interpreted to link with a lower zone intersected in drill-holes MF23-214, MF23-225 and MF23-226.
Key details are shown in Table 1, with the intercept cross-section shown in Figure 3.
The potential new Lower Zone has not been factored in previous resource modelling and presents as an immediate target for follow-up drilling.
Click here for the full ASX Release
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.
