Significant Mineral Resource Expansion At Basin Project
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS - Bradda Head Lithium Ltd. announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at the Basin Project, Arizona. The updated MRE was prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) (NI-43-101). As per the Gross Overriding Royalty Agreement with the Lithium Royalty Company (LRC), this new contained LCE Tonnage which is well over the contracted threshold of 1Mt, has enabled the Company to trigger the payment of US$2.5 million from LRC.
Based on a further 2,355.20m of sonic drilling, completed in 2023, Bradda Head has added 729 kt of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent ("LCE") to the Inferred Mineral Resource, for an updated total Inferred LCE content of 1.0 Mt. The total new Mineral Resource now comprises 17.0 million tonnes in the Indicated category at 940 ppm carrying 85kt LCE and 210 million tonnes in the Inferred category at 900 ppm, carrying 1,000 kt LCE. As per the Royalty Agreement, BHL has formally requested payment of US $2.5 million from LRC; documentation has been submitted per verification by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd. The continued step out drilling success at Basin East Extension and Basin North has increased the Company's confidence levels in achieving the next milestone of 2.5Mt of LCE in situ, that enables BHL to receive a further US$3.0 million payment from the Royalty Agreement.
SRK applied a new cut off grade of 550ppm Li to report Mineral Resources and demonstrate reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction ("RPEEE"). This cut off grade is higher than the cut-off grade used to report the previous Mineral Resource (300 ppm; effective 13th October 2022). This higher cut off grade more accurately reflects the recognised metallurgical processing input parameters and takes into account operating costs presented in the public domain by more advanced peer group projects. The average in situ grade of the Inferred Basin East Mineral Resource has increased from 694 to 900 ppm Li, a 30% increase.
The results of the 2023 drilling programme demonstrate extensive lateral continuity of the Basin East clay package as well as impressive consistency. in the stratigraphic position and grade profile of a high-grade clay-rich sub-unit, over an approximately 2.7 x1.8 km area. It's important to note that the Upper Clay Unit includes a continuous High-Grade layer which has an average grade of some 1,300 ppm Li, and is on average 15m thick. This higher-grade portion of the Upper Clay Unit is strategic as it could potentially form part of a phased mining processing operation and would clearly enhance early stages of mining and overall project economics.
Mineralisation is open to the north of the MRE model in the Basin East and Basin North license blocks, and geological mapping, surface Li samples. Geological mapping and geophysical surveys indicate that similar clay strata may also be present across the majority of the Basin West license block. The previous drilled area only covered 1.4km2 of Bradda's total 41km2 of sedimentary claims in Basin and Wikieup. The 2023 resource expansion drill programme has increased this drilled area to 2.5km2 or 14% of BHL's claims in the Basin district only. The next phase of drilling is planned for early 2024 at Basin North under an existing notice of intent ("NOI") permit. Bradda is also permitting an 80-hole programme at BWE and BW with the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) where it expects significant resource growth stemming from geological work done to date by our geologists. BW and BWE cover an 11km2 area, which is considerably larger than the BE (1.5km2), BEE (2.3km2) and BN (2.3km2).
Ian Stalker, Chairman, said, "The increase in LCE at Basin East Extension and into Basin North highlights the impressive potential that we have always believed is inherent at the Basin Project. The total drilled area at Basin East/Basin East Extension/Basin North still only covers 2.5km2 of our 41km2 license area at Basin and Wikieup. We believe that 2024 is going to be another exciting year of resource growth for Bradda Head, hopefully in both projects areas - San Domingo Pegmatites and the Basin Clays. We remain well funded, even more so following the royalty payment. More drilling is already planned at Basin North and Basin West upon receipt of the Environmental Assessment ("EA") from the BLM in H2 2024. The area we are permitting is over 11km2, which is considerably larger than BE, BEE, and BN combined (c.6km2). BHL is excellently placed to take full advantage of the near-term resource growth potential at our sedimentary lithium assets in Arizona. The BHL team on site has done a remarkable job and showed persistence in delineating the Basin Project to date.
We have a compelling 12 months ahead with what we believe are a number of material catalysts and we look forward to providing further updates in 2023, including our ongoing work at our San Domingo Pegmatite district as well as in 2024 in what we believe is going to be another exciting year of resource growth for Bradda both at San Domingo and Basin."