First Lithium starts drilling Blakala, one of only two Tier 1 priority lithium targets in Mali

6000m of drilling has commenced at the First Lithium’s priority Blakala prospect in Mali
Additonal rigs to be added pending intial drill results
Ongoing trenching program at Blakala returning average results of 1.6% lithium from thick pegmatites up to 40m
Goulamina — the fifth largest spodumene deposit globally — and Blakala have been highlighted in previous reports as the two preferred Tier 1 targets in Mali

Recently reinstated onto the ASX, First Lithium has mobilised its exploration team and started spinning the drill bit at its highly prospective Blakala prospect in Mali.

First Lithium (ASX:FL1) is actively exploring its Faraba and Gouna permits which are surrounded by world-class lithium projects, including Leo Lithium’s (ASX:LLL) giant 211Mt @ 1.37% Li2O Goulamina JV with Ganfeng Lithium, as well as Kodal’s 24Mt Bougouni project.

Goulamina and Blakala are the only two Tier 1 priority lithium targets in Mali ranked by CSA Global in 2008, with FL1’s prospect first identified in the 1960s by Russian geologists.

The drill bit is spinning

Drilling has commenced at the priority Blakala deposit to follow up on targets identified by initial analysis of the Blakala pegmatites and the greater Gouna project area.

Ongoing analysis of samples from a trenching program have revealed high-grade Li2O of up to 1.92% at Blakala with an average of 1.6%, while in the greater Gouna project area samples averaged 1.32% Li2O.

A detailed channel sampling program of all the trenches at Blakala is currently taking place, with results for these samples expected within the next 6-8 weeks.

Apart from confirming the significant spodumene content of the initial results, the trenches have also confirmed some very significant thicknesses of some of the pegmatites from 10m and up to 40m, with crystals up to 15cm identified.

At the Faraba prospect, first-pass drilling has proved up encouraging results.

While a second-tier target to Blakala, FL1 drilled two diamond holes in the prospect area based on historical Russian drill results and encountered multiple stacked pegmatites in each hole with thicknesses of between 1.6-2.8m down to 60m from surface up to 2.55% Li2O.

“The results from our Blakala trenching program reveal high grade Li2O samples with thick pegmatites of up to 40m,” First Lithium managing director Venkat Padala says.

“We are excited to commence drilling on the Blakala permit this week to determine the strike and depth extensions in order to identify the Blakala pegmatites in more detail”.

This article was developed in collaboration with First Lithium, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.