Earlier this month, lithium explorer Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN) was optimistic about the third drill hole at its Candelas project in Argentina.

Now the official assay results are in, the company says its optimism was warranted; a 143m intercept of brine where assays confirmed lithium brine levels of 784 milligrams per litre (mg/L).

When the company first reported the promising result on April 11, its share price jumped by 10 per cent above 40 cents.

But the market was less excited by today’s confirmation, with shares in GLN down more than 10 per cent at 26.5 cents in morning trade.

Staying on the hunt

The existence of high quality brine makes it two out of three so far for Galan, which generated some market excitement with drill-hole 1 before drill-hole 2 fell short of expectations.

The third drill-hole is situated 2.5km from the drill-hole 1, which returned a 192m intercept at 802 mg/L.

Having got the latest results back, Galan also confirmed that it’s completed drill-hole number 4 to a depth of 488m, with field tests indicative of a “moderately conducive” brine horizon.

Once sampling is complete at drill-hole 4, Galan will pack up its rig and move onto the fifth site — the maximum allowed under its current drilling agreement.

“Permitting for further drilling beyond the initial five holes approved is advanced and expected in the near term,” Galan said.

Now that it’s completed most of the initial drilling, the market is now waiting for Galan to define its lithium resource before it can move onto the next stage of development.

Galan said it’s on track to define its Candelas resource in the September quarter of this year.
 

In other ASX battery metals news today

A number of battery metals stocks provided quarterly updates, amid a deluge of 4C filings to meet today’s deadline. Cobalt and sulphur explorer Cobalt Blue (ASX: COB) said it’s continuing to progress exploration at its Thackaringa Project in Broken Hill. The company had $712k of cash operating outflows in the March quarter, and said it has approval from shareholders to issue a further 19 million shares if required to meet future spending requirements. Shares in COB were unchanged at 14 cents.
 
And graphene material manufacturer First Graphene (ASX: FGR) released its quarterly activity statement, highlighting a $680k R&D refund and approval for a $3.5m capital raise to sophisticated and institutional investors. Shares in FGR were up by 2.94 per cent in morning trade at 17.5 cents.

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