Latin Resources Limited (ASX: LRS) has continued to confirm the expansion of the Colina pegmatite swarm with latest drilling results from resource definition drilling currently underway at the company’s wholly-owned and fully funded Salinas Lithium Project in Brazil.
“We continue to see great results coming out of the resource definition drilling at our Colina Deposit,” Geology Manager, Tony Greenaway, said.
“The consistency in both the pegmatite thickness and lithium grades is extremely encouraging, bolstering our confidence to be able to deliver what we believe will be a significant upgrade to the Colina mineral resource in June.
“We are very focused on finding the extents of the rapidly growing system at Colina, where the pegmatite swarm remains open in all directions. Drilling is progressing very well, and we are on track to close off our drilling database in mid-May to enable the JORC Resource estimation process to commence in June.”
Resource definition drilling
The Company’s 2023, 65,000m resource definition diamond drilling campaign is progressing well, with a total of 32,000m now completed in 109 diamond drill holes at the flagship Colina Lithium Deposit in Brazil.
Recently received assay results from drill core samples continue to highlight the consistency of the high-grade pegmatite swarm at Colina, with mineralization now defined over an area of 1km by 1km to a depth of 400m below surface. The pegmatite swarm remains open in all directions and at depth. Drilling is ongoing.
The ongoing expansion of the Colina lithium pegmatites, as well as the strong correlation seen between drillholes and drill sections, provides the Company with increased confidence of the potential to significantly grow the existing 13.2Mt @1.2% Li2O Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).
SGS geological consultants have completed site inspections of the new drill core including the 33.07m @1.83% Li2O pegmatite intersected in SADD0772, in preparation for the MRE update which is scheduled for June 2023.
Ongoing works at Colina
The company’s board recently approved an aggressive exploration budget for the wider Salinas Lithium Project. This includes the addition of four diamond drilling rigs, taking the total rigs onsite to eight, operating on a double shift basis, with an estimated 65,000m planned to be drilled in 2023.
The newly discovered Colina West prospect now has six of the eight rigs drilling 24 hours a day to enable the resource upgrade planned for June to be completed on time. These further positive drill results from Colina West are now proving that Colina and Colina West are part of one large pegmatite swarm. Therefore, the Colina and Colina West projects will now be referred to simply as Colina.
The company will continue to review and update the Colina resource model wireframes as more drilling information becomes available. A major update and resource re-estimation by SGS for the Colina and Colina West areas is expected to be completed in June 2023.
Metallurgical test work programme
Final selection of a representative bulk sample for the next round of metallurgical test work is in the final stages, with drilling of large diameter PQ size drill core set to commence in late May. The proposed test work will follow on from the existing Heavy Liquid Separation (HLS) test work which returned exceptional recoveries4 of over 80.5% of lithium recovered in a concentrate grading up to 6.6% Li2O.
The company recently visited the SGS Lakefield laboratory in Canada to evaluate their Dense Media separation (DMS) pilot plant. This next phase of planned work will include multiple full Dense Media separation pilot scale tests, fines flotation test work, and hydrometallurgical lithium conversion test work to produce lithium hydroxide and lithium sulphate products from the raw Colina pegmatite feed. This test work is designed to provide information for the upcoming Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).
For further information please visit: https://www.latinresources.com.au/
