Emerging lithium producer Core Exploration (ASX: CXO) has revealed new exploration drill results from the Lees, Booths and Sandras prospects, along with a number of other prospects, all within the company’s wholly-owned Finniss lithium project in the NT. The new results show the significant potential for Core to continue to expand and define substantial additional lithium resources at Finniss through exploration drilling.
HIGHLIGHTS
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New high-grade lithium spodumene intersections from Sandras and Lees prospects demonstrates the potential to continue to expand the existing Mineral Resource base at the 100% owned Finniss Lithium Project;
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Updated Mineral Resource estimate expected from BP33 in the week ahead;
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Maiden Mineral Resource estimate expected for the Sandras Prospect in November;
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High grade lithium spodumene intersections at Sandras Prospect include:
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24m @ 1.02% Li2O from 177m (SRC017) including;
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2m @ 2.04% Li2O from 182m
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High grade lithium spodumene intersections at Lees Prospect include:
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11m @ 1.66% Li2O from 122m (NRC037) including;
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8m @ 1.56% Li2O from 117m (NRC034)
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A possible link between Lees and Booths prospects has been recognised and, if supported by future drilling, will improve the prospectivity of this area;
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Results expected throughout remainder of 2018 from continuing exploration drilling programs across multiple prospects within Finniss.
Emerging Australian lithium developer, Core Exploration Ltd (ASX: CXO) (“Core” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce new exploration drill results from the Lees, Booths and Sandras prospects and a number of other prospects within Core’s 100%-owned Finniss Lithium Project in the Northern Territory (“Finniss”).
These new results demonstrate the significant potential for Core to continue to expand and define substantial additional lithium resources at Finniss through exploration drilling.
The Finniss Project, located near Darwin comprises over 500km2 of tenements covering the Bynoe Pegmatite Field. A large number of lithium-rich pegmatites have been identified on the project area to date, and ongoing exploration is expected to continue locate new pegmatite occurrences for further evaluation. Results to date have confirmed that ore-grade lithium mineralisation is widespread within many of the pegmatites and Core’s drilling initiatives in 2018 are aimed at substantially growing the Mineral Resource base to underpin a potential long-life lithium mining and production operation.
Core is growing the lithium Mineral Resources in parallel with completing a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the development of mining and producing high-quality lithium concentrate from the Finniss Project. To this end, the Company is aiming to complete regulatory approvals, financing and internal approvals before commencing production at the Grants Deposit before the end of 2019. The DFS is expected to be completed during Q4 2018.
The Finniss Lithium Project has substantial infrastructure advantages supporting the Project’s development: being close to grid power, gas and rail and within easy trucking distance by sealed road to Darwin Port – Australia’s nearest port to Asia.
Commenting on the outstanding exploration results, Core Managing Director Stephen Biggins said:
“These exploration results demonstrate the significant potential of the Finniss Lithium Project that we are yet to fully realise. The remainder of 2018 is shaping up to be a very busy one for Core as we continue to progress Grants towards development, grow the existing resource base at BP33 and potentially add new resource at Sandras. Core is also maintaining an aggressive exploration program to continue to identify new prospects and better define spodumene pegmatites such as Lees, Booths, Carlton and Hang Gong, which all look very promising as potential additional sources of ore supply.
“We are in the final phases of the DFS for the Finniss Project, which for the time being, is focused on extraction of the Resources defined at Grants and BP33 only, and we look forward to reporting the findings of the DFS in the weeks ahead”
