European Lithium (ASX:EUR, FRA:PF8) has received assay results from two drill holes from its deep drilling program at its flagship Wolfsberg Lithium Project located in Austria.
Results confirm that the multiple lithium bearing pegmatite veins extend to depth and include high grade mineralisation such as 4.3 metres at 1.9% lithium oxide.
Results from the four hole drill program will be used upgrade the resource which is anticipated to be received by the end of May.
The third hole has been drilled and logged and the fourth and final hole is well advanced and expected to be completed shortly.
Steve Kesler, CEO, commented: “We anticipate completion of the drilling programme by end April and then declaring an increased resource by end May.”
Drill result details
The drill results confirm that the multiple lithium bearing pegmatite veins extend to depth with intersection widths similar to veins at higher elevations.
Significant intersections included:
- A packet of veins 6.20 metres thick containing 4.33 metres at 1.9% lithium oxide; and
- A packet of veins 4.28 metres thick containing 2.71 metres at 0.73% lithium oxide.
The deep drill hole program is being undertaken and is intended to validate the extension of the pegmatite veins with depth.
These sampled veins would then be included in the resource model for declaration of an upgraded resource.
Wolfsberg Lithium Project
Current drilling follows the 75% increase in the JORC resource tonnages to 6.3 million tonnes at 1.17% lithium oxide completed in November 2016.
The project is comprised of 22 original and 32 overlapping exploration licences and a mining licence over 11 mining areas has been issued by the Austrian Mining Authority.
Wolfsberg was discovered by Minerex in the 1980s, a period when the lithium demand and price did not support project development.
European Lithium undertook a successful program to verify the Minerex historical data, which has been used to in associate with recent drill results to compile this JORC resource.
The project has had 17,000 metres of drilling and 1,400 metres of declines, drives and crosscuts completed and installed by previous owners, and this work will allow the company to examine routes to fast track the development phase.
Furthermore, test-work has demonstrated that waste dilution from mining can be successfully separated from pegmatite ore by laser based sorting.
Analysis
These drilling results demonstrate that the pegmatite veins extend to depth as originally thought.
Importantly, the extrapolation of the known veins provides a conceptual Exploration Target of 8 to 14 million tonnes at the average grade of the deposit of 1.1 to 1.2% lithium oxide.
The company’s near term goals are using the current drill program results to increase the Wolfsberg lithium JORC resource further and finalise a pre-feasibility study.
While the recent 75% increase in the JORC resource was a key step for the company in its fast-track plans, further resource increases will support the longevity of the project.
The company remains leveraged to short exploration based news flow over the short term with assays from the remaining two drill holes pending.