Lithium Plus Minerals Limited (ASX: LPM) has intersected high-grade spodumene mineralisation intersected in Phase 1 drilling programme at the Lei Prospect within the company’s flagship Bynoe Project in Australia’s Northern Territory.
The company has received the first assay results received from the programme which confirm a coarse-grained spodumene-bearing pegmatite of high lithium grade.
Thirteen holes were completed near the historic discovery hole as part of the initial drilling program including two diamond holes (for 493m) and eleven RC holes (for 1,968m) for a total of 2,461m.
This initial programme was planned to target along strike and down-dip extensions of lithium mineralization from the historic discovery RC hole (KBRC024) drilled in 2017 by Kingston Resources, which returned a highly encouraging 12m at 1.43% Li2O from spodumene-bearing pegmatite.
Phase 1 results confirm the continuity of the high-grade spodumene mineralisation beyond the historic drilling.
Drilling indicates that the primary spodumene-bearing pegmatite body at Lei extends over at least 130m strike length, is steeply east-dipping, and is up to approximately 25m true thickness. The mineralised pegmatite is open at depth.
The best assay results from Lei include: 11.0m @ 1.48% Li2O from 196m and 17.8m @ 1.40% Li2O from 216.72 (BYLDD001); 11.0m @ 1.03% Li2O from 173m and 13.0m @ 1.31 % Li2O from 192m (BYLRC023); 14m @ 1.21% Li2O from 151m (BYLRC022); 8.0m @ 1.22% Li2O from 145m and 1.0m @ 0.99 % Li2O from 186m (BYLRC015)
“Our maiden drilling programme at Bynoe, centred on the Lei prospect, is the first of our broader regional exploration programmes targeting a number of well exposed pegmatite systems,” Executive Chairman, Dr Bin Guo, said.
“It is extremely encouraging to have confirmed a significant strongly mineralised pegmatite system at Lei, located only 1.5 km from Core Lithium’s development centred on the Grants pegmatite.
“We are keen to extend our diamond drilling programme to chase the mineralised system down-plunge and will be back diamond drilling at Lei in the coming weeks. Armed with this additional proof of regional high grade spodumene-bearing pegmatites, we are excited to extend the programme to our targets at the Jenny’s and Perseverance Prospects.
“With the progress to date, we remain excited about the potential to delineate a maiden lithium resource by Q1 2023.”
Next Steps
The LPM exploration team are interpreting the current geological model while planning a second phase of diamond drilling to target deeper extensions of the pegmatite system at Lei. The second phase of diamond drilling at Lei, now planned for at least three deep holes over 1,300m, is expected to commence in late October to early November.
Meanwhile, the RC Rig has relocated to the Perseverance prospect to test several identified outcropping pegmatites.
For further information please visit: https://lithiumplus.com.au/
