Core Lithium accelerates Finniss drilling with second diamond rig

Core Lithium Ltd’s (ASX:CXO) has accelerated resource drilling of the Finniss Lithium Project near Darwin in the Northern Territory with a second diamond rig in operation. Drilling will target open extensions of the Grants and BP33 ore bodies with the aim of adding to mineral resources and ore reserves. This work has the potential to further increase the Life of Mine at Finniss. Opportunities to extend resource Recent mine planning and resource assessment studies have highlighted valuable opportunities to further extend resources and reserves at the Grants and BP33 deposits, particularly in the light of efficient underground mining methods verified in the pre-feasibility study (PFS). Notably, the last holes drilled at BP33 featured a lithium intersection of 107 metres at 1.70% Li20 that is open along strike in both directions and at depth. The 4,000-5,000 metres resource expansion drilling program has started and is expected to be completed in November. Optimisation work Core’s mining engineering team is working to optimise the depth of the Grants open pit to complement an extended underground mining operation. This has been done to exploit the deeper extents of the Grants ore body, which has the potential to reduce the stripping ratio and capture more of the ore.