First Lithium’s high grade Western Pegmatite drill hits another clue into Blakala’s lithium potential

High grade drill intersections validate Western Pegmatite body as a significant lithium discovery
Drilling also extends mineralised strike of the Main Pegmatite to >1,000m
First Lithium says results show how abundant lithium is in this region

Special Report: High-grade Initial assays from drilling at the Western Pegmatite body has increased the extent of lithium mineralisation at First Lithium’s highly-prospective Blakala prospect in Mali.

The Blakala prospect in the Gouana permit in Mali is just one of two Tier 1 priority lithium targets ranked by CSA Global back in 2008, the other being Leo Lithium’s (ASX:LEO) 211Mt Goulamina project.

Exploration to date – such as diamond drilling results such as 111m @ 1.57% Li2O from 33m that were announced in December 2023 – have already provided some notable validation of First Lithium’s (ASX:FL1) interest in unlocking its potential.

Channel sampling results such as 1.94% Li20 over 19m and 1.9% Li2O over 22m have validated the Eastern and Western pegmatites as additional high-grade and wide spodumene mineralised targets while drilling continues to grow the site’s pegmatite prospectivity along strike and at depth.

First Lithium ASX FL1 — Section showing BDSF17 with the Western Pegmatite and Main Pegmatite intersected. Pic supplied (FL1)

Western Pegmatite’s proven lithium prospectivity

The company has now received high-grade results from diamond drilling at both the Main and Western pegmatite bodies.

Notable results are:

16.2m @ 1.66% Li2O from 29m (BDFS16 Main Pegmatite);
33.72m @ 1.59% Li2O from 49m including 25m @ 1.87% Li2O from 57m (BDFS17 Western Pegmatite); and
17m @ 1.81% Li2O from 60.5m including 14m @ 1.93% Li2O from 63m (BDFS18 Western Pegmatite).

Notably, the results validate the Western Pegmatite body as a significant discovery with high-grade spodumene mineralisation remaining open at depth and along strike.

They also extend the mineralised strike of the Main Pegmatite to >1,000m.

“The first assay results on the Western Pegmatite are very encouraging and confirm the previous visual estimates FL1 had announced to the market,” managing director Venkat Padala said.

“With the Western Pegmatite confirmed as part of the expanded tier 1 Main pegmatite, the deposit is beginning to expand and take shape as a potential world class deposit as we had hoped.

“The high grades received in the assay results continue the trend from the assays received to date and show how abundant the Li2O is in this region.”

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.