Zinnwald Lithium plc, the European focused lithium company, announced the publication of an updated independent Mineral Resource Estimate for its 100% owned Zinnwald lithium project located in Saxony, eastern Germany.
The 2024 MRE update incorporates 26,911 metres of new diamond core drilling across 84 drill holes and a reinterpreted and updated geological model since the previous MRE which was released in September 2018.
In addition to the high-grade greisen mineralisation, focus of the recent 2022/2023 drilling was the lithium mineralisation hosted by the broader zone of altered albite granite, which includes internal lenses of higher-grade greisen. The inclusion of this mineralised zone allows for a higher production rate and a potential optimisation of overall project economics.
2024 Resource Highlights:
A 445 % increase in tonnes and a 243% increase in contained lithium (“Li”) in the Measured and Indicated category versus the previous 2018 MRE.
Total contained Li of 429kt compared with the 2018 MRE of 125kt in the Measured and Indicated category.
11.3 Mt grading 3,420ppm Li (0.736% Li2O) in the Measured category.
193.5 Mt grading 2,220ppm Li (0.478% Li2O) in the Measured and Indicated category.
33.3 Mt grading 2,140 ppm Li (0.461% Li2O) in the Inferred category.
Increase in overall tonnage predominantly due to the incorporation of a broad zone of mineralised granite, as well as contribution of an extra 26,911 metres of new drilling over 84 holes.
Measured classification only applied to the external greisen domains due to a higher metallurgical confidence; Snowden Optiro recommends further metallurgical variability testwork in the broad mineralisation zone domain to further increase confidence.
Demonstrated dimensions of the mineralised zone (true thickness c. 80 metres) and continuity of ore supports highly efficient mining methods with minimal waste rock production.
Mineral Resources reported using a 1,100ppm Li cutoff grade and a stope optimisation to constrain an RPEEE Resource.
Zinnwald Lithium CEO, Anton du Plessis, commented: “We are delighted to be able to announce a substantial increase of our Mineral Resource at the Zinnwald Project with a 3.4x increase in contained lithium in the Measured and Indicated categories. This establishes the Project as the second largest hard rock lithium project by both resource size and contained lithium in the EU and clearly highlights its scale and strategic importance.
“The inclusion of the mineralised granite in the resource and ultimately the mine plan will allow more efficient bulk underground mining techniques with the potential to meaningfully increase the lithium production from what was contemplated in the PEA published in 2022.”
Source: Geo Resources
