Red Dirt Metals Limited provided an update on the Mt Ida Lithium Project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields region.
Mt Ida has an initial global resource base of 12.7Mt @ 1.2% Li2O, as disclosed on 19 October 2022, and Red Dirt is moving forward with both expansion, exploration, and further development of this resource base.
IDRD229W1 was drilled below the Sister Sam deposit on a granted mining licence close to existing resources of 12.7Mt at 1.2% Li2O and intersected a significant width of mineralised pegmatites over a 100-metre downhole width.
In the immediate vicinity of the new discovery, Red Dirt has drilled and modelled more than 150 holes, gaining a thorough understanding of the local geology and numerous pegmatite orientations. This ever-expanding knowledge of the surrounding geology informed the orientation and azimuth of this newest drill hole. More drilling is needed to ascertain the real width of this pegmatite and evaluate whether it may be added to the current resource at Mt Ida.
According to Red Dirt, the result is an outstanding demonstration of the prospect for considerable resource expansion that the exploration team believes exists at Mt Ida. The Company presently has 6 drill rigs operating across Mt Ida to rapidly extend and understand the full range of the ore body.
“Clearly, the more we drill at Mt Ida, the more we find. This is a brilliant result in the most important lithium production region in the world. Western Australia is clearly the place to be for lithium exploration and production. Access to mining and exploration expertise, stable regulation, premium infrastructure and reliable government policy means the lithium industry in WA will deliver jobs, opportunity, state and federal revenues and the critical minerals the planet needs,” Executive Chairman David Flanagan said.
Flanagan added, “The Company continues to advance infill, extension and exploration RC and DD drilling programs across the Mt Ida. More than 6,133 Mt Ida samples are currently with the labs undergoing analysis with results expected to arrive in batches over the next 6-12 weeks. Further planned drill programs will cover more than 200 holes and 60,000 metres through the balance of 2023. Four priority Air Core (AC) anomalies have been identified and regional AC drilling designed to detect low tenor “host rock hanging wall” lithium anomalism. These are currently being followed up by RC drill testing with an initial 20 holes for 3,450 metres.”
