The numbers for Core Lithium’s Finniss project in the Northern Territory keep getting better – so much so that it has doubled the drilling budget this year from 2022’s spend as it looks to expand the size of the known resource at the prospect.
Core said Wednesday that its 2022 campaign had resulted in a 62% boost to the mineral resource estimate (MRE) at Finniss.
The MRE had increased to 30.6 million tonnes at 1.31% Li2O (Lithium Oxide) which “represents a 62% increase on the previous MRE of 18.9 million tonnes at 1.32% Li2O announced in July 2022,” Ciore told investors on Wednesday.
The news saw the shares rise 3% to $1.02.
The Measured and Indicated Resource categories have increased by 46% to 19.4 million tonnes at 1.37% Li2O. “Approximately 63% of the MRE is in the higher confidence Measured and Indicated categories, with excellent conversion of Inferred to Indicated,” Core said in the statement.
The 2022 drilling program was the largest that Core has completed to date and showed significant potential for extension of the Finniss project.
These results show significant potential for mine life extension at Finniss, and work is now underway to complete an updated Ore Reserve Estimate.
Core said it has started drilling for 2023 at Finniss and aims to deliver further significant increases to the total Mineral Resource.
The Company has allocated $25 million to the 2023 program, nearly double the budget allocated for 2022.
“This significant increase to the Finniss mineral resource is a fantastic outcome for Core and our shareholders,” Core Lithium CEO Gareth Manderson said in the ASX update on Wednesday.
“The 2022 drilling campaign was the largest in Core’s history, and these outstanding results are a credit to the exploration team.
“Through the targeted and systematic drilling of known and emerging deposits, the company has further highlighted the prospectivity of our landholding in the Bynoe Pegmatite field and the strong potential for life of mine extensions at the Finniss lithium operation.
“Our exploration team returns to Finniss in 2023 with a pipeline of new and existing deposits. The success of the 2022 exploration program is a strong endorsement of our near-doubled 2023 exploration budget as we target growth at the Finniss lithium operation.”
Core said it had recently appointed a Study Manager to identify and study potential mining options and deposit sequencing from the “exploration program results with a view to the establishment of a clear growth pipeline at Finniss. Carlton and the Northern Area of Finniss will be an initial focus.”
The Company will soon start geophysical surveys “specifically designed to identify large blind pegmatite bodies within the fertile corridor of spodumene-bearing pegmatites. Drill testing of these targets is expected to occur in the second half of 2023 as part of the expanded $25 million program planned for this calendar year.”
Core has already started exporting from Finniss.
