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Australia:
“Core’s announcement today of over 100 metres of high-grade lithium mineralisation
located 25km from Australia’s closest port to Asia highlights the natural advantages the
Finniss Project has in regard to quality and cost. We are confident in having the Finniss Project construction-ready in early 2020, so that we are well-positioned to be Australia’s next sustainable lithium producer as market conditions continue to improve.”
Stephen Biggins
Managing Director
Core Lithium
The Lithium market is reaching a crescendo with every prospecting company putting their all to take their projects to the next level. The US Geological Survey estimates Chile has the largest reserves by far 7.5 million tonnes but as more and more discoveries are taking place, a litany of wooes and a rupture of the market has taken place in form of over supply for the not so established market will be experienced until the industrial demand has evolved enough as expected.
A number of companies have dived into the quagmires of the overcrowded market and the wounds cut deep down to the very core of their pockets. Last year Alita Resources entered voluntary administration just months after getting its Bald Hill lithium concentrate plant in WA into production. In the same period Pilbara Minerals recoiled back expansion plans for its Pilgangoora project, while Galaxy Resources cut the value of its Mt Cattlin mine by $178 million. Even the percieved World’s largest privately owned Lithium mine, Greenbushes, curtailed expansion plans.
Located in one of the most strategic areas, with substantial infrastructure advantages; being close to grid power, gas and rail and within easy trucking distance by sealed road to Darwin Port – Australia’s nearest port to Asian markets, this new developing project will definitely turn its competitors green with envy as it is one of Australia’s highest-grade lithium resources.
Advanced Australian lithium developer Core Lithium Ltd has announced a world-class, high-grade lithium intersection of 107m @ 1.70% Li2O at its BP33 Prospect within the 100%-owned Finniss Lithium Project, located near Darwin in the Northern Territory.
A continuous intersection of greater than 100m high-grade spodumene pegmatite was drilled by the Company as part of a recent deep reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling program at the BP33 Prospect. Along with the high lithium grade nature of the BP33 spodumene pegmatite, of note are the very coarse podumene crystals of the BP33 pegmatite , which are typical of the spodumene pegmatites within the Finniss Lithium Project. The coarse crystalline nature enables the high recovery of lithium by simple, gravity dense media separation (DMS).
According to the company, effective DMS separation eliminates the need for flotation and translates into significantly lower capex, lower processing costs and low start-up risk. The outstanding drill result indicates that the primary pegmatite body at BP33 extends with an ~40m true width for at least a further 100m vertically from previous drilling on that section and remains open at 400m vertical depth .
The results from the recently completed RC and diamond core drilling programs in
combination with previously recently released RC drilling results will be used to upgrade
BP33 Mineral Resource in February. Early mining studies at BP33, and also nearby Carlton Prospect, have highlighted important opportunities to increase mining efficiency and to substantially extend mine life, and will be applied to the upcoming Mineral Resource expansion updates over coming months.
According to the company, these opportunities include the potential to substantially increase Ore Reserves and mine life through cost-efficient underground mining of the wide, near-vertical pegmatite orebodies that continue at depth at BP33 and Carlton, subsequent to initially developing grants as a simple open-cut mining operation. The new mining studies and updated Feasibility Study are expected to be completed in H1 2020 following updated Mineral Resource estimates through February from the Finniss Lithium Project.
Core’s Managing Director, Stephen Biggins, commented:
“Core’s announcement today of over 100 metres of high-grade lithium mineralisation
located 25km from Australia’s closest port to Asia highlights the natural advantages the Finniss Project has in regard to quality and cost. “We are confident in having the Finniss Project construction-ready in early 2020, so that we are well-positioned to be Australia’s next sustainable lithium producer as market
conditions continue to improve.”