Frontier Lithium drills 398 metres of pegmatite at PAK
Frontier Lithium Inc. [FLI-TSXV, LITOF-OTCQX, HL2-FRA] has released results for the remaining seven holes completed during phase X11 drill program at its Spark pegmatite. The Spark pegmatite is one of two delineated premium spodumene-bearing-lithium deposits located on the company’s PAK Lithium development project in northwestern Ontario.
In releasing highlights, the company said it intersected 398.25 metres of pegmatite averaging 1.88% Li20, including a 23.4-metre zone of 3.12% Li20, in hole DDH PL-098-22.
Frontier Lithium is a preproduction business. Its aim is to become a strategic domestic supplier of spodumene concentrates for industrial users as a well as a battery-grade lithium hydroxide and other chemicals to the growing electric vehicle and energy storage markets in North America.
The company has said its PAK Lithium project is one of the highest quality known lithium mineral resources in North America due to its high-grade and low impurity properties in the pegmatite ore material and the spodumene mineral.
The company published a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) in April, 2021 that indicated an after-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate of US$974 million and a 21% after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) through a fully-integrated lithium operation utilizing spodumene concentrate generated from the PAK project to achieve downstream conversion for production of battery-quality lithium chemicals and concentrate for the glass and glass-ceramic market.
Phase X11 drill program on the Spark pegmatite began in May 2022 and was completed in October, 2022. The initial objective of the program was focused on converting inferred material to the indicated category for the planned open pit. The latter half of the program included geotechnical drilling for ground control and pit design purposes as well as stepout deposit drilling to define the eastern and western extents of the orebody.
The company completed 15,984 metres of drilling in 50 holes in 2022.
“Now that all results have been received and processed, we can say that our goal of upgrading inferred has been achieved and the Spark pegmatite continues to increase in size particularly with the intersections in holes PL-098-22 and PL-099-22,’’ said Garth Drever, Vice-President, Exploration at Frontier.
“These two holes, which are 140 metres apart, have confirmed that that new northwest zone discovered in February, 2022, is connected to the main zone and contains significant high-grade zones of 2.0% to 3.0% Li20,’’ he said. “This zone will certainly be explored during the 2023 drill program at Spark.’’
The PAK lithium project covers close to 27,000 hectares and remains largely unexplored, the company has said.
The latest drill results were announced after the close of trading on February 8, 2023, when Frontier shares closed at $2.86. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $3.89 and $1.30.