Jindalee Resources Ltd (ASX:JRL) has the diamond drill spinning at the 100%-owned McDermitt Lithium Project in Oregon, USA, in a program aimed at infilling and extending the existing mineral resource estimate (MRE).
The program will comprise 28 drill holes with a diamond rig on-site and a second, reverse circulation (RC) rig expected in September.
Jindalee is confident that this program will boost the 1.82 billion tonnes at 1,370 ppm lithium resource for 13.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at a 1,000 ppm lithium cut-off released earlier this month.
Shares have been as much as 6.59% higher intra-day to A$2.75 while JRL's market cap is approximately A$150.91 million.
Seeking to boost resource
The company received approval from the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) in October 2021 for a total of 39 RC and diamond drill holes.
Twelve holes designed to increase confidence in the 2021 MRE and convert inferred resources to the indicated category were drilled in December 2021.
This program intersected significant widths of lithium mineralisation and resulted in a 28% increase in contained lithium from 10.1 million tonnes to 13.3 million tonnes LCE.
It increased contained lithium in the indicated resource category by 170% from 1.8 million tonnes to 4.8 million tonnes LCE.
New holes are planned to increase confidence in the inferred resources further and convert to indicated resources, as well as determine the extent of lithium mineralisation across the project.
Assay turnaround times are expected to be around 12 weeks, with Jindalee expecting results to be received during the December quarter.