Significant resource now on the books for Future Battery Minerals’ Nevada lithium project. Pic: Getty Images
Mining
Special Report: Future Battery Minerals’ Nevada lithium project now has a weighty 6.2Mt lithium carbonate equivalent resource for the Lone Mountain deposit in less than 12 months since the discovery hole was drilled.
The +90km2 Nevada lithium project sits within the mining hub of Tonopah – a premier global mining district – and shares the same clay-hosted mineralisation formation as other notable projects in the region such as Ioneer’s (ASX:INR) Rhyolite Ridge and American Lithium Corporation’s (TSX-V:LI) TLC projects.
Exploration by Future Battery Minerals (ASX:FBM) had proved that there is no shortage of mineralisation within the 80%-owned project with Phase 2 drilling returning assays such as 179.8m at 766 parts per million (ppm) lithium from just 39.6m, and 170m at 764ppm lithium from 67.1m.
This also highlighted a 3km by 2km mineralised footprint at Lone Mountain while Phase 3 drilling successfully extended high-grade mineralisation at depth.
All three Phase 3 diamond holes returned thick, continuous, high-grade intervals, with two remaining within the lithium claystone mineralisation at end-of-hole and a top assay of 226m at 855ppm lithium from 140m including 66m at 1,001ppm lithium from 216m (WF23-011C).
Lone Mountain, which has a north-south strike of +3km and mineralisation starting from just 35m below surface with consistently wide intercepts across its entire strike extent, has now had a large-scale initial resource of 1.5Bt at 783ppm lithium (6.2Mt LCE contained) pencilled in.
This grade is similar to or higher than the neighbouring large-scale projects such as TLC (809ppm lithium), Tonopah Flats (574ppm lithium) and Horizon (680ppm lithium) and includes a contiguous, up to 66m thick selection of high-grade (+1,000 ppm lithium) claystone across the same strike extent.
Adding further interest – particularly for a deposit at such an early stage of exploration — over 42% of the contained lithium is in the higher confidence Indicated category that grants enough certainty for mine planning.
Significant potential for further growth and confidence also exists with the deposit remaining open along strike and at depth.
“To have advanced from the discovery hole at the NLP last year to a large-scale maiden MRE at elevated grade, in less than 12 months, is a huge achievement. The FBM technical team deserve special recognition for their combined geological thesis, exploration strategy and field success,” managing director Nick Rathjen said.
“With an initial 6.2Mt contained LCE, at an average grade approaching 800ppm lithium, we are pleased to have established the scale and further growth opportunity that exists at the NLP, particularly given the broader regional context in which it is located.”
He added that Lone Mountain had many natural advantages for accelerated development and commercialisation and that the broader Nevada lithium project has significant value given the size and quality of lithium claystone deposition, its location in a proven mining and development region, and the US need to secure its critical mineral supplies.
“Given its already impressive scale and tenor, we will now evaluative a range of commercialisation routes available to the NLP, to find the optimal outcome for FBM shareholders,” Rathjen noted.
This article was developed in collaboration with Future Battery Minerals, 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.
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