Core Lithium Extends Blackbeard Hit to 74m @ 1.32% Li2O

Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) released final assays for hole NMRD108 at the Blackbeard prospect, extending a previously reported partial intersection and adding to the drilling it is using to assess Blackbeard as a source of additional resources for the Finniss Lithium Operation.

Final results extended the NMRD108 intersection from 29m @ 1.35% Li2O to 74.0m @ 1.32% Li2O from 209m, within a 96m pegmatite intersection. This is a downhole length; the company estimates true thickness at approximately 43m. Core says it is the second-longest downhole mineralised intersection at Blackbeard to date, after NMRD104 (92m @ 1.25% Li2O from 92m), and lies approximately 50m along strike from SRC117. NMRD110, drilled approximately 90m west-northwest of NMRD108, returned 76.7m @ 0.77% Li2O from 63.3m, including 21.7m @ 1.28% Li2O from 63.3m and 6m @ 1.20% Li2O from 114m. NMRD106 intersected a single narrow pegmatite returning 1m @ 0.90% Li2O from 406.2m. Blackbeard is less than 20km from the Finniss processing plant, and the staged and gated diamond drilling campaign totals 12,150m.

These are Exploration Results, not a Mineral Resource. The true thickness of the NMRD110 intersection cannot yet be estimated with confidence. Core says resource definition at Blackbeard may support assessment of plant throughput above the current 1.2Mtpa base case, but no study outcome or decision is reported.