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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 around the recent breakthrough 74.4m intercept (Drill-hole MF23-207: refer to ASX Announcement released 24 July 2023) has continued to validate and expand the recently discovered “Swell Zone” at the Mavis Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada.
Highlights
- Continued drilling success along trend from the recently reported diamond drill-hole MF23-207 – 74.4m @ 1.18% Li2O including 32.95m @ 1.81% Li2O.
- Multiple wide mineralised zones intersected in further diamond drill-holes targeting the “Swell Zone”, with assayed intercepts including:
- Drill-hole MF23-211 with 41.0m @ 1.18% Li2O from 206.6m down-hole;
- Drill-hole MF23-210 with 41.25m @ 1.25% Li2O from 208.3m down-hole;
- Drill-hole MF23-209 with 20.7m @ 1.21% Li2O from 212m down-hole; and
- Drill-hole MF23-208 with 13.8m @ 1.81% Li2O from 156.5m down-hole and 13.3m @ 1.56% Li2O from 343.9m down-hole.
- The wide intercepts are outside of the current Mineral Resource envelope and will add significant tonnage to our next resource upgrade.
- Every drill-hole also displayed localised sections of very high-grade lithium mineralisation grading above 2.2% Li2O, with drill holes MF23-209 and MF23-210 containing sections grading over 3.1% Li2O.
- Drilling continues to test the mineralisation in the Swell Zone, with the Swell remaining open.
- Further assays from this new zone are pending and will be released to the market as soon as they become available.
Since that discovery intercept, the Company has completed a series of further drill-holes targeting this exciting new position, with multiple holes encountering thick mineralised intercepts, demonstrating consistency around the plunge theory at the Mavis Lake Main Zone.
Current drilling forms part of the summer 2023 resource extension drilling program, 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.
Extension of Swell Plunge Trend
The drilling was designed to follow up the successful intercept in Drill-hole MF23-207 and test both the lateral, up-dip and down-dip extents of the newly identified Swell Zone. The new intercepts can be seen in Figure 2, with a summary of assay results in Table1.
Figure 1 – Plan view of Mavis Lake Mineral Resource with Figure 2 cross-section reference
Drill-hole MF23-208 was immediately drilled following the success of MF23-207, however this hole was originally designed for resource extension and intersected the Main Zone up-dip of the swell trend.
The hole was able to intersect three significant mineralised zones, with multiple high-grade sections over 2.2% Li2O. The drill-hole also demonstrated continuity, with two intercepts of continuous, high- grade mineralisation, each over 13 metres down-hole grading over 1.5% Li2O.
A full breakdown of assay results is provided in Table 1. The deepest zone, starting at 343m down- hole, demonstrates the presence of significant spodumene mineralisation at depth, which will continue to be tested.
Figure 2 – Cross-section of drill-holes MF23-208, MF23-209 and MF23-210, in context to previous drilling and the current Resource shape (left image), and cross-section of drill-hole MF23-211, in context to previous drilling and the current Resource shape (right image)
Drill-holes MF23-209 and MF23-210 were designed to test the down-dip extents of the swell trend identified by MF23-207. Both returned multiple thick intercepts of high-grade spodumene, including exceptionally high-grade zones grading over 3% Li2O. Some mineralised segments were separated by very thin mafic volcanic units.
These intercepts have extended the mineralisation in the Swell Zone by an additional ~50m down- dip and ~25m east. These holes were also used to assist in defining the geometry of the Swell Zone and allow for future drill-hole planning.
MF23-211 was a step-out, collared west of MF23-207 and designed to test the lateral extension of the Swell Zone. MF23-211 successfully intersected thick spodumene-bearing pegmatite, with an average grade of 1.18% Li2O over 41m down-hole, with multiple sections grading over 2.1% Li2O. This key intercept helps validate the theory that the Swell Zone is expanding laterally.
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.
