‘We are confident that … we will be able to significantly upscale the lithium resources and mine life’: Lithium miner launches major NT drilling campaign

The proponent of a lithium mine near Darwin has kicked off the most extensive exploration and resource expansion drilling campaign in the company’s history.

THE proponent of a lithium mine near Darwin has kicked off the most extensive exploration and resource expansion drilling campaign at its Finniss site in the company’s history.

The mine was granted major project status by the federal government in March.

Core Lithium says a diamond drill rig is now on site at Finniss and has started drilling.

Significantly, Core Lithium said its gold exploration activities were also underway in the Northern Territory.

The company said new lithium exploration discoveries were expected to add more tonnes to the recent exploration target and current mineral resource at Finniss.

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Core has secured six more mineral leases adjacent to its Finniss project, allowing the company to potentially prolong the life of the mine to between 10 and 20 years depending on what’s under the ground.

A key focus of Core’s resource expansion drilling will be on converting a high proportion of the newly acquired prospective ground at Finniss to resource.

The gold exploration activity is at the Bynoe Gold Project with early stage geological mapping and geochemical surveys underway ahead of gold discovery drilling programs.

Core managing director Stephen Biggins said the company was excited to have restarted field work at the Finniss Lithium Project.

“We are confident that, through this program, we will be able to significantly upscale the lithium resources and mine life at Finniss, making Australia’s next lithium mine an even more attractive investment opportunity,” he said.

Core Lithium’s Finniss project, the first lithium mine in Australia outside WA, is expected to generate more than 360 jobs during construction and more than 250 ongoing jobs once operations commence. The major project status recognises the strategic significance of the project to Australia and the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the critical minerals industry.