- Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) upgrades the mineral resource estimate for its Mt Ida lithium project in Western Australia
- The company has boosted its indicated mineral resources 136 per cent to 7.8 million tonnes at 1.3 per cent lithium oxide
- Global contained lithium resource has increased 21 per cent to 180,000 tonnes
- A maiden gold resource is pending in the coming days
- Shares last traded at 77.5 cents
Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) has announced a lithium resource upgrade at its Mt Ida lithium project in the WA goldfields as full-fledged government mining approvals draw nearer.
Back last month, Delta Lithium appointed Mineral Resources (MIN) founder and WA mining legend Chris Ellison as its Non-Executive Chair.
Delta expects to be able to commence mining operations on-site before 2024, and once activities begin, geotechs will have a fresh resource estimate to work with – boosted 136 per cent to 7.8 million tonnes of ore at 1.3 per cent lithium oxide.
The company’s overall contained lithium oxide global resource now sits at 180,000 tonnes of lithium. Indicated and inferred resources jumped from 12.7 million tonnes to 14.6 million.
Drill rigs remain active on-site, where the company is hunting out both lithium and gold. A maiden gold resource is tipped for the very near future – “a maiden … estimate for gold at Mt Ida is being finalised [and] will be reported in the coming days,” the company wrote.
Scoping studies will be among the first activities Delta jumps right onto. The company is hopeful its resource upgrade can underpin a 10-year life of mine (LOM) plan with much of the increase coming from one target of interest, the Sister Sam pegmatite.
Sister Sam saw a 98 per cent global MRE increase to 9.3 million tons at 1.3 per cent lithium.
“The objective of this resource update was to provide a higher level of confidence in the mineralisation at Mt Ida, particularly Sister Sam and Timoni, and thus enable confirmation of an economic lithium project,” Mt Ida Managing Director James Croser said.
“We’ve done just that, more than doubling the Indicated Mineral Resource and confirming continuity and grade where it matters in the potential early years of a mine, while also growing the contained llithia in the deposit by 20 per cent.”
DLI shares last traded at 77.5 cents.