International Lithium announces Raleigh Lake lithium project maiden MRE

The project includes MREs for both lithium and rubidium. The two MREs are closely related due to their spatial relationships, but their respective resource estimates are considered separate and unique.

Lithium within the Raleigh Lake deposit is hosted within spodumene laths that are generally green in colour and range in size from less than 1 cm to greater than 8 cm. Pegmatites within the deposit are weakly zoned and spodumene mineralisation is relatively homogenous throughout. The opencast and underground MREs are constrained via optimised pit shell and minable shape wireframes, respectively.

John Wisbey, Chairman and CEO of ILC commented: “We are very pleased to announce our maiden MRE for the Raleigh Lake lithium deposit containing both opencast and underground resources. It is a great credit to our project and drilling teams that we have developed this estimate within 18 months from the start of 2021 – 2022 drilling to a level that includes 37% mineralised material contained within the measured and indicated resource categories.

“As well as our primary focus on lithium, we are also highly encouraged by the amount of rubidium at the Raleigh Lake deposit and it is pleasing to note that separate high-grade rubidium pods have been discovered within the opencast lithium resource, locally hosted within microcline-rich areas which are distinct from the lithium-rich areas of the pegmatites. This rubidium has therefore been reported as a separate resource. This presents an exciting opportunity.

“The world market for rubidium is much smaller than that for lithium and trading volume is somewhat opaque. The current market price of rubidium carbonate is US$1160/kg (¥8000/kg), which is over 21 times the current lithium carbonate price of US$53400/t (¥368/ kg). ILC’s rubidium at Raleigh Lake is therefore significant and not a minor add-on – provided always as for any commodity that world demand for rubidium is there and that the price is available at projected production levels. These prices should not be taken as the prices that ILC will be able to achieve for selling its lithium and rubidium, but to give information about current relative prices.

“We look forward to a busy year as we advance to the next stage of study and anticipate releasing a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) around the middle of this year, based on this maiden MRE.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/02032023/international-lithium-announces-raleigh-lake-lithium-project-maiden-mre/