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(Alliance News) - Zinnwald Lithium PLC on Tuesday said it completed a drilling campaign at its Zinnwald lithium project located near Dresden, Germany and is making "excellent" progress developing the beneficiation plant concept for the project.
The High Wycombe, England-based, Germany-focused lithium development company reported completing a 84 hole, 27 kilometre in-fill drill campaign with positive results, supporting the company's expectations of a significant increase in the size of the Zinnwald resource.
It also noted average lithium mineralisation true widths within the albite granite zone having a vertical thickness of 113 metres.
Zinnwald Lithium said ongoing drilling and mineral processing testwork supports inclusion of albite granite into the mineral resource estimate, anticipated to be published in the fourth quarter of 2023.
"We are delighted with the progress that has been made in recent months post the fundraise. Completing the drill campaign is a major milestone which, together with our forthcoming expanded MRE, will form a firm foundation on which to base our [bankable feasibility study]," said Chief Executive Officer Anton Du Plessis.
"The significant scale of the deposit indicated by the results of the campaign thus far reinforce our view that the Zinnwald lithium project can be a major supplier to the European battery sector and a meaningful economic contributor to the region and local community. This is amplified by the exciting potential of our other exploration licenses, which may further expand one of Europe's largest lithium opportunities."
In conjunction with Finland's Metso Corp, Zinnwald Lithium also said it continues to make "excellent progress developing the beneficiation plant concept for the integrated Zinnwald project.
Metso was engaged to assist Zinnwald Lithium with its definitive feasibility study in early 2022.
Since then, Zinnwald Lthium said the two companies have been working on developing a successful beneficiation process flowsheet based on a complete mineralogical study, batch, and locked cycle tests.
Zinnwald Lthium said the design basis of the tests considers the mixture of two distinctive lithium ore types, albite granite and quartz mica greisen, potentially expanding the resource base "considerably".
"Achieving resilience and sustainability for the electric vehicle battery supply chain is essential, including in Europe where over 30 new gigafactories are planned by 2030. Our vision is to build a world-leading integrated lithium hydroxide operation to support this supply chain, adhering to the highest environmental standards. We are therefore delighted with the progress being made with Metso as we look to design the best possible particle sorting, otherwise known as beneficiation process, for the plant," said Chief Executive Officer Anton du Plessis.
"After the completion of the beneficiation pilot, we will start refinement of the calcination and hydrometallurgical flowsheet. We have partnered with Metso to develop and deliver this project as a 'one-stop shop' to reduce the need for engagement with multiple suppliers and to maximise in-house know-how in the design of the plant from run-of-mine to the battery-grade final product."
Shares in Zinnwald Lithium were unchanged at 8.50 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter
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