Lithium Ionic (TSXV: LTH; USOTC: LTHCF) says drill results at its Bandeira and Galvani targets in Brazil are leading towards an initial resource estimate for the Itinga project by the end of June.
The Toronto-based company cut 45.9 metres grading 1.45% lithium oxide (Li2O) from 28 metres down hole ARDD-23-56 at the hard-rock Galvani site in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, it said in a news release on Monday.
The results establish a 50-metre down dip extension from previously reported hole ARDD-23-45, which intersected 1.23% Li2O over 17 metres. It forms part of a large pegmatite dyke also penetrated by hole ARDD-23-048 with 1.87% Li2O over 45 metres, the company said.
“These latest results further confirm the scale and continuity of the large spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes at this target,” Lithium Ionic CEO Blake Hylands said in the release. “Our team is confident that the upcoming mineral resource estimate will deliver scale and high-grade that will form the basis for significant future growth.”
Shares in Lithium Ionic gained 5% to $2.50 apiece in Toronto on Monday morning, within a 52-week range of 70¢ and $3.05, valuing the company at $298.3 million.
Demand for lithium continues to grow for electric vehicles as automakers secure off-take agreements. However, surpluses are likely from next year before they’re expected to sink into a deficit again from 2029, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence last month.
Lithium Ionic has completed 28,400 metres of drilling across the 8.7 sq. km of Bandeira and Galvani and is drilling the last few holes for the Itinga resource estimate. Lithium Ionic also holds the 141-sq.-km Salinas project in the northeast of Minas Gerais, about 800 km north of Rio de Janeiro.
Galvani is about 5 km northwest of Bandeira and Companhia Brasileira de Lítio’s Cachoeira lithium mine, which has produced the light metal for more than 30 years, and around 4 km west of Sigma Lithium’s (TSXV: SGML; NASDAQ: SGML) Xuxa lithium deposit.
Lithium Ionic also said it has formed Valitar Participacoes, a special purpose mining subsidiary with US$2 million, to acquire surface rights over its mining claims, giving it 1% of the mineral net revenue from any mining, according to Brazilian law.
Lithium Ionic says it has identified a mineralized trend of more than 1 km at Bandeira with at least six different spodumene-bearing pegmatite bodies that remain open in all directions.
The company completed the acquisition of Galvani in September. In January, it signed an agreement to earn up to all of Vale Litio, which holds three claims covering 31.4 sq. km. One of the claims is beside Galvani and has spodumene-rich pegmatites identified in old workings and outcrops.
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