Piedmont Increases Lithium Resource by 47% to 27.9 Million Tonnes
- 47% increase in Piedmont Project-wide Mineral Resource estimate to 27.9 Mt @ 1.11% Li2O
- 55% increase in Mineral Resource estimate on Core property to25.1 Mt @ 1.09% Li2O
- 74% of the Core property resource is within 100m of surface and 97% is within 150m of surface
- 100% of the lithium resource is attributed to spodumene mineralization
- Core property Resource is based on 326diamond coreholes totalling over 51,000 meters
- 9,450 meters of drilling remain in Phase 4 drill campaign with numerous highly prospective targets
NEW YORK – Piedmont Lithium Limited (“Piedmont” or “Company”) is pleased to announce a major update to the Mineral Resource estimate for the Company’s wholly-owned Piedmont Lithium Project (“Project”) located within the world-class Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt (“TSB”) in North Carolina, USA (Table 1).
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Figure 1: Piedmont Lithium Project Showing Resource, Resource Shells and New Exploration Target Areas (Graphic: Business Wire)
The Mineral Resource for the Core property has increased to 25.1 million tonnes (“Mt”) at a grade of 1.09% Li2O, bringing the Project’s total Mineral Resources to 27.9 Mt at a grade of 1.11% Li2O, containing 309,000 tonnes of lithium oxide (“Li2O”) or 764,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (“LCE”) (the benchmark used in the lithium industry).
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Table 1: Project Wide Mineral Resource Estimate for the Piedmont Lithium Project (0.4% cut-off) |
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Resource Category |
Core property |
Central property |
Total |
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|
Tonnes (Mt) |
Grade (Li2O%) |
Tonnes (Mt) |
Grade (Li2O%) |
Tonnes (Mt) |
Grade (Li2O%) |
Li2O (t) |
LCE (t) |
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|
Indicated |
12.5 |
1.13 |
1.41 |
1.38 |
13.9 |
1.16 |
161,000 |
398,000 |
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|
Inferred |
12.6 |
1.04 |
1.39 |
1.29 |
14.0 |
1.06 |
148,000 |
366,000 |
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|
Total |
25.1 |
1.09 |
2.80 |
1.34 |
27.9 |
1.11 |
309,000 |
764,000 |
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Importantly, 74% of the Core Mineral Resource is within 100m of surface and 97% is within 150m of surface. Approximately 50%; or 12.5 million tonnes of the Mineral Resource is classified in the Indicated Resource category. All of the Mineral Resource tonnes at both Core and Central properties are attributable to spodumene mineralization.
The Company expects to complete a pre-feasibility level metallurgical testwork program followed by a Scoping Study update in July 2019.
Keith D. Phillips, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are very pleased with the resource update at our Core property, bringing our total project-wide resources to 27.9Mt at 1.11% Li2O. As we expand our land holdings and drill out other highly prospective targets, we are optimistic that we will ultimately identify North America’s largest spodumene ore body. This scale, combined with high grade, strong mineralogy and metallurgy, and our superior location in North Carolina, all support the unique strategic nature of the Piedmont Lithium Project.
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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190625005273/en/
Keith D. Phillips | President & CEO
T: +1 973 809 0505
E: kphillips@piedmontlithium.com
Anastasios (Taso) Arima |Executive Director
T: +1 347 899 1522
For further information, contact:
SVP, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
T: +1 704 575 2549
E: esanders@piedmontlithium.com