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- Essential Metals (ESS) gets the Pioneer Dome Lithium Project in Western Australia ready for development and plans new drilling programs
- Initial steps are underway at the Dome North area, including a mining lease application, process plant studies, a flora and fauna study, and hydrology study
- Two drilling programs are planned for the December quarter at Dome North and South Dome
- Shares are down 22.7 per cent at 17 cents each at 12:06 pm AEST
Essential Metals (ESS) shares plummeted this morning, despite the news ESS is advancing its Pioneer Dome Lithium Project to “development ready” status in parallel with new drilling programs.
The project lies at the core of Western Australia’s lithium corridor in the Eastern Goldfields region, roughly 130 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie.
ESS said initial steps were underway to transition the Dome North resource area towards development readiness.
These steps include an application for a mining lease over the Dome North Mineral Resource, a capital and operating cost study for two process plant scenarios, a flora and fauna study, and a hydrology study.
Meanwhile, the company is also planning two drilling programs for the December quarter.
At Dome North, shallow diamond core drilling into upper zones of the Cade and Davy deposits will aim to upgrade the sites from the Inferred to the Indicated category, and provide samples for metallurgical test work.
At South Dome, air core drilling will test various targets in the southern area of the Pioneer Dome Project.
Essential Metals Managing Director Tim Spencer commented on the progress.
“The continuing significant improvements in outlook for lithium should make the business case for Dome North even more compelling and we want to be ready to develop the Project at the right time,” he said.
“In parallel with these pre-development work streams, we are planning a new phase of drilling for the next quarter, aimed at upgrading the upper zones of the Cade and Davy deposits from Inferred to Indicated, and testing various targets across the southern portion of the project.
“With a two-pronged approach to unlocking the value of the Pioneer Dome Lithium Project, this is an exciting time for our shareholders.”
Assay results from ESS’s recent Dome North drill program are anticipated in the first half of October.
The company said while drilling did not appear to identify a new pegmatite, the results would be important for further targeting of pegmatites in and around the Dome North resource, which remains under-explored.
Shares were down 22.7 per cent at 17 cents each at 12:06 pm AEST.
