By Oscar Nkala
Australian miner AVZ Minerals says it has reported more thick intersections of lithium ore with visible spodumene at its flagship Manono Lithium project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a statement issued on April 6, the company said thick drill intersections of up to 313.88m wide have recently been pulled out of the Roche Dure pegmatite at Manono.
Other intersections included 276.77m, 284.30m and 273.20m which contained a high proportion of visible spodumene within the pegmatite. The drill holes have been logged with most samples sent off for analysis.
“Ongoing resource drilling of the Roche Dure pegmatite is gaining momentum with four drill rigs operational on site and a further one rig en route to site. This additional drilling ability will allow AVZ to complete the initial 20,000m program of resource drilling in a timely manner.
“Core recovery has been excellent to date with nearly 100% core being recovered. Geological logging of the core has proven yet again that the Manono Lithium Project is world class in size,” said AVZ’s Executive Chairman Klaus Eckhof.
Another three drill holes are almost complete with logging and samples due to be taken shortly. Eckhof said core recovery so far has been “excellent” with almost 100% of the core recovered.
The ongoing drilling campaign will help AVZ establish a JORC-compliant resource for Roche Dure by the end of the current quarter. The mine development project got a boost last month when AVZ Minerals and the Beijing National Battery Technology company signed an memorandum of understanding to buy lithium from the DR Congo operation.