Latin Resources says new assays from 12 holes have confirmed the consistency of spodumene grade and thickness within and extending along strike from its 45.2-million-tonne Colina lithium deposit in Brazil.
The company says significant intersections from Colina infill drilling include 9.94m at 1.5 per cent lithium oxide from 328.91m, 10.46m at 1.29 per cent from 160.04m, 18.12m at 1.67 per cent from 244.88m, 11.74m at 1.4 per cent from 76.26m and 10.13m at 1.63 per cent from 49.62m.
The campaign’s 3700m of diamond-core work in the 12 holes was drilled within the Colina deposit, in addition to prospects along strike to the south-west in ground making up Latin’s 38,000-hectare, 100 per cent-owned Salinas lithium project in the Minas Gerais region.
Management planned the drilling campaign to explore the possibility of extending its massive Colina deposit along strike and at depth, to test newly-identified regional targets and to provide data for metallurgical testing.
The company says the drilling results so far confirm the consistency of spodumene grade and thickness within the Colina resource mineralisation envelope. It remains confident the deposit’s footprint can increase along strike and Colina tonnage can be upgraded into the indicated and measured categories.
The visual drill core intersections of spodumene rich pegmatite over three kilometres to the southwest of the Colina Deposit, within our interpreted mineralisation corridor; together with similar intersections at the Fog’s Block Prospect a further six kilometres along strike to southwest, is extremely encouraging. We now have multiple confirmed spodumene pegmatite drill core intersections within the corridor, providing us with a high degree of confidence that this district scale system has the potential to host multiple deposits. We will continue to aggressively explore our highly prospective tenement package with the aim of growing our existing 45 million Tonne resource base; while in parallel, upgrading the Colina Deposit trough infill and extension drilling. Latin Resources vice-president of operations – Americas, Tony Greenaway
Within the main Colina deposit, Latin has drilled two deep diamond-core holes for a total of 939.88m to test the extents of the lithium mineralisation at depth, in a bid to convert blocks currently in the inferred category to indicated. The company says both holes have visible cumulative spodumene pegmatite mineralisation – about 100.15m thick in one hole and about 71.3m thick in the other.
Latin says the results from the deep holes are encouraging because they strongly suggest that the mineralised spodumene system continues at depth, potentially adding further tonnes and increased resource category confidence within the pit shell.
About 560m to the south of the main deposit, six diamond rigs have been busy completing 21 holes for a total of 8734m at the company’s Colina SW target. Assays from nine holes are back, with the best results going 7.44m at 1.31 per cent lithium oxide from 458m, including 5m at 1.63 per cent from 459m, 3.67m at 1.51 per cent from 483m, 4.98m at 1.56 per cent from 548m and 4m at 1.75 per cent from 594m.
Latin says the assays are highly encouraging and support the interpretation that its Colina resource is open along strike, with the footprint extending a significant distance to the south-west. It is also furthering its metallurgical testwork of the deposit’s ore, with two drill rigs on site undertaking a large-diameter, 1850m metallurgical drill program.
Two holes have been completed in the program for a total of 527.21m, with the third still in progress. Latin says visual observations in the cores identified about 29.65m of cumulative spodumene pegmatite mineralisation in one hole and about 45.31m in the other.
The company says it has also completed one of two holes planned as part of its first-pass reconnaissance drill testing of pegmatite outcrops about 6km south-west of main Colina deposit. It says the first hole shows 17.78m of cumulative visible spodumene pegmatite mineralisation, with assays expected to be back in four to six weeks, while drilling of the second hole is in progress.
Management says it is encouraged by the visible spodumene mineralisation and believes it may represent an extension of the mineralised system seen at the main deposit.
Further afield, about 12km to the south-west, an initial five-hole diamond-core drilling program at the Fog’s Block prospect is planned for 2000m. It will follow up on outcropping pegmatites identified during fieldwork.
The company says four of the holes have been completed for 1899.84m, with the fifth being drilled. The best of the assays from the first two holes came back with 13.06m at 1.34 per cent lithium oxide from 210.94m, including 6.06m at 1.61 per cent from 210.94, confirming previous visual spodumene observations.
Latin says the mineralogy and structural controls appear consistent with those seen at its main Colina deposit, consisting predominantly of spodumene, feldspar and quartz within a north-east/south-west shear zone. It believes the mineralised footprint seen at Fog’s Block may represent a 12km extension of the pay zone.
In June this year, the company announced a massive 241 per cent increase to the Colina mineral resource, based on 135 diamond drill holes for 39,033m of drill core, to 45.2 million tonnes at 1.34 per cent lithium oxide, representing a lithium carbonate equivalent of 1.477 million tonnes.
The classification includes 0.43 million tonnes at 1.34 per cent lithium oxide in the measured category, 29.7 million tonnes at 1.37 per cent in the indicated category and 15 million tonnes at 1.22 per cent in the inferred category.
A total of 118 holes for 39,360m have now been completed since the start of drilling in January this year, as part of a broader 65,000m campaign. The company says there are now an additional three diamond drilling rigs working on the project, bringing the total to 11 rigs.
With more assays due back in the near future, time will now tell just how big Colina may be.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: office@bullsnbears.com.au
Comments