West Leederville, WA – May 30, 2024 – Latin Resources Limited (ASX: LRS), an Australian-based mineral exploration company, developing a low-cost, sustainable, tier one lithium operation in the premier mining jurisdiction of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is thrilled to announce significant upgrades to the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Colina Lithium Deposit, part of the company's Salinas Lithium Project in Brazil.
The updated global MRE now stands at a staggering 77.7 million tonnes at 1.24% Li2O, marking a substantial increase in the resource base. Impressively, 95% of the Colina Deposit has been upgraded to the higher confidence Measured and Indicated categories, which now total 67.27 million tonnes at 1.27% Li2O.
Key highlights from the updated MRE include:
- A notable increase in the Measured and Indicated resource, providing robust support for the forthcoming Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).
- Continued drilling success at the Planalto Prospect near the Colina Processing infrastructure, demonstrating potential for future resource expansions.
- Enhanced economic outlook with an expected positive impact on cash flow and extension of mine life due to the upgraded resource.
Latin Resources Managing Director, Chris Gale, commented: "This is another fantastic result from the Latin Resources exploration team, delivering another uplift in MRE tonnage and significantly improving the confidence in the Colina Lithium Deposit. This truly cements the Project as hosting one of the largest scale undeveloped lithium deposits on a global scale.
What is particularly pleasing to me is the likely impact on the economics of our upcoming DFS to be released in Q3 2024. The PEA we delivered in 2023 clearly demonstrated the compelling case for developing the Salinas Lithium Project, with robust economics including an IRR of 132% and Life of Mine revenue of A$12.6 billion (US$8.4 billion).
We are proud that our early belief in this world class Tier One lithium deposit continues to be validated, and with each key milestone we have hit along the way, to demonstrate the significant financial returns to be delivered to our shareholders.
Latin is on the cusp of developing a fully sustainable lithium mine, becoming a Tier one , low-cost producer, with significant cost saving benefits and competitive market advantage from its geographical location in Minas Gerais, Brazil.”
Latin Resources’ Vice President of Operations - Americas, Tony Greenaway, commented: “We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the Colina mineral resource update. Our program of infill drilling which started late last year has resulted in a significant increase in both the size and confidence levels of the mineral resource estimate at Colina. We now have approximately 95% of our 71Mt resource in the Measured and Indicated JORC classification, which is beyond our initial expectations, and means that we have a very solid basis underpinning the declaration of mining reserves
While this is an excellent result, work doesn’t stop at the Salinas Project. We are pivoting our focus back to exploration and the further expansion of our already formidable resource base. We have five drilling rigs focused at the Planalto Prospect, which is located less than two kilometres from the proposed Colina Processing infrastructure. Our initial drilling has shown that we have good continuity of the pegmatite swarm intersected in the discovery hole last year, up-dip and closer to surface. We will continue to delineate this emerging new deposit, with the aim of potentially generating a maiden resource later in the year.”
About us:
Latin Resources Limited (ASX: LRS) is an Australian-based mineral exploration company, developing a low-cost, sustainable, tier one lithium operation in the premier mining jurisdiction of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Contact details:
Jane Morgan
jm@janemorganmanagement.com.au
