AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) (OTCMKTS:AZZVF) (FRA:3A2) has received further high-grade lithium and tin mineralisation from its mineral resource drilling at Roche Dure, the Manono Lithium and Tin Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It drilled 203.3 metres at 1.59% lithium and 1,014 ppm tin from pit floor ‘wedge’ at Roche Dure.
The assay results come from the first four of nine planned diamond drill holes at Roche Dure in previously undrilled areas beneath the historical pit, which were inaccessible and underwater during the earlier resource drilling programs.
A new resource update is expected, pending all outstanding data being received in the first quarter of 2021.
Revenue-generating ore
AVZ’s managing director Nigel Ferguson said: “These drilling results, combined with the pit floor mapping, confirm the pit floor ‘wedge’ is in fact made up of pegmatitic rock that historically was mined as tin-bearing feedstock.
“This area had previously been categorised as waste material in our current mining and financial model due to a lack of drilling data and under our current model, is pre-stripped as waste before ore can be sent to the processing plant.
“These positive drill results unequivocally demonstrate this is not the case and this material may be remodelled with increased confidence as revenue-generating ore once all of the assay results are returned.
“The company is waiting on further assay results, with the targeted drill program soon to be completed with only one hole currently underway.”
Potential benefits
The potential benefits from confirmation of the ‘wedge’ pit floor material as indicated resources under the JORC code will possibly include:
- Increased indicated resources available for conversion to probable mineable reserves;
- Potential increase in the discounted cash flow as the previously assigned waste becomes mineable ore;
- A reduction in payback period as waste becomes revenue-generating ore immediately upon commencement of mining operations;
- A potential reduction in the ore:waste strip ratio;
- An increased mine life with lower operating costs;
- An increased open pit volume; and
- An increased life of mine.
AVZ will collate the data and re-run the models to calculate both geological resources and then mineable reserves to be fed into the optimised feasibility study expected later this year.