Latin Resources has been added to the respected Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Global Small-Cap Index in a move expected to see the company gain increased exposure to bigger global institutions.
According to MSCI, the index is designed to measure and represent the performance of the small-cap segment of companies across 23 countries that have developed markets.
The Global Small-Cap Index comprises 4324 constituents, covering about 14 per cent of the free float-adjusted market capitalisation in each country. As part of the MSCI semi-annual rebalance, Latin is also set to be included in the MSCI Australia Small Cap Index.
Inclusion in the index can give companies significant advantages, including broader exposure to international investment markets, increased trading liquidity, institutional research coverage and broader access to capital sources.
Latin has recently been focused on its Colina deposit, part of its 100 per cent-owned Salinas lithium project in south-eastern Brazil, which has a mineral resource estimate of 45.2 million tonnes at 1.32 per cent lithium oxide, representing a lithium carbonate equivalent of 1.5 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 it now has an additional three diamond drilling rigs working on the project, bringing the total to 11.
Just last month, it proved it was able to produce a 5.5 per cent lithium oxide concentrate from the Colina deposit, with a 93.1 per cent recovery rate. Management says the results are a reliable indication of the potential for simple and cost-effective commercial lithium production by using the dense media separation (DMS) process.
The company used a DMS pilot plant to beneficiate spodumene from waste and says the outcome proved up a reliable indication of the method’s commercial potential. It says the grade of the produced concentrate and the “impressive” recovery rate proves the ability of Colina ore to be produced using a DMS-only flowsheet.
Just last week, Latin recorded significant intersections from Colina infill drilling, including 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.
With drilling continuing at Colina and inclusion on both MSCI’s global and Australian indexes, Latin is poised to receive a significant boost as the company reaps the benefits of increased exposure to potential investors.
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