A year ago, Core Lithium’s Finniss lithium project had a Mineral Resource of 1.8 million tonnes and a pre-feasibility study was in the pipeline. Flash-forward 12 months; the company is now sitting on an 8.6Mt operation that’s set to lift first spodumene concentrate out of the ground by the end of 2019.
A year ago, Core Lithium’s Finniss lithium project had a Mineral Resource of 1.8 million tonnes and a pre-feasibility study was in the pipeline. Flash-forward 12 months; the company is now sitting on an 8.6Mt operation that’s set to lift first spodumene concentrate out of the ground by the end of 2019.
Core revealed to the market this week an initial mineral resource estimate of 1.4Mt at 1.2 Li2O at its Hang Gong prospect, adding to the global Finniss lithium resource ahead of release of a definitive feasibility study by the end of the March quarter.
The Hang Gong prospect is located less than 1 kilometre from the proposed mine and processing facility at the Grants deposit, and only a few hundred metres from the Carlton prospect where an initial mineral resource of 0.79Mt at 1.3 per cent Li2O was announced in December.
Beyond that, Core is currently conducting follow-up drilling at Hang Gong, with the aim of expanding on the initial resource.
“The global mineral resource for the Finniss project has increased rapidly from 1.8Mt at the start of 2018 to 8.6Mt as of this week, and we expect that it will continue to grow with our ongoing drilling at Finniss,” Core managing director Stephen Biggins said.
“We continue to be excited by the new results that the Finniss project turns up for us, and we are confident that Hang Gong, together with the other prospects and deposits at Finniss, will add up to a substantial lithium project.”
Core’s news this week comes on top of the revelation of preferred contractor status for three key components of Finniss.
Core engaged Primero Group as the preferred engineering, procurement and construction contractor for Finniss, with the front-end engineering and design study already underway to improve the accuracy of the EPC estimate on the processing plant at Finniss.
Lucas Total Contract Solutions, meanwhile, has been engaged as the preferred contractor for mining services at Finniss, whist Qube Bulk has been tapped for the provision of transport services.
Core will work with the aforementioned contractors to finalise contract terms that reflect the most cost-effective and time-efficient solution for Finniss in due course.
“These key contract roles are crucial for the success of Finniss, so we didn’t make our decisions on who should be awarded these packages of work lightly,” Mr Biggins said.
“Final award of these contracts will follow the completion and release of the DFS and financing of Finniss, which should see Core on-track for first production at Finniss by the end of the year.”
All in all, the company is making waves across the media outlets for its achievements thus far, but none so much as its granting of a mineral lease by the Northern Territory government, marking the first ever ML awarded by the NT government and which puts the company on firm tracking to become the first lithium producer outside of Western Australia.
