Technology Minerals PLC (LSE:TM1) has been awarded seven new licences in Ireland, with 235 square kilometres of additional acreage covering potential lithium pegmatite occurrences.
The exploration company, in a statement, noted that the awards take its Irish licence portfolio to a total of 23 licences spanning an aggregate of 760 square kilometres of prospective ground.
"We are pleased to add seven new prospecting licences to our Leinster Project, increasing our strategic foothold at the Leinster lithium property in South East Ireland by over 40 percent to 760 kilometres squared,” said chief executive Alex Stanbury.
“We consider these to be exciting additions to our portfolio and look forward to commencing further exploration to enhance our understanding of the project's potential.
“Given the supply squeeze taking place for lithium globally, finding new sources of primary supply will be critical to help power the move to a carbon neutral economy."
Technology Minerals highlighted that two specific areas within the new licences have previously reported historic spodumene-bearing lithium pegmatite occurrences, and data including 10 float samples have previously been collected – four samples from one area showed grades of 1.54% to 1.79% lithium oxide, whilst four samples from another area had between 0.58% and 1.63% lithium oxide.
The explorer added that it believes the new licences lie on a parallel but less well-defined structural trend to the East Carlow Deformation Zone, which has previously shown to be a locus for spodumene pegmatite emplacement.
Work programmes will begin to enhance understanding of the spatial distribution of boulder trains discovered so far, as well as the rest of the licences, it added.