(Sharecast News) - Lithium developer Bradda Head announced on Monday that a drill rig has been mobilised to start immediate drilling at its San Domingo lithium pegmatite project in Arizona.
The AIM-traded firm said the drilling at the 13 square kilometre project followed receipt of the bond adjudication, and would be the first drill programme at the historic pegmatite district since the 1950s.
It said the permitted programme at San Domingo was for 30 holes, equivalent to about 7,000 metres of diamond core drilling, and was planned to test the thesis that San Domingo was similar in structure to other well-known zoned pegmatites, such as Liontown's Kathleen Valley pegmatite project in Australia.
The programme would continue the fieldwork at San Domingo, including mapping, geophysics, surface sampling, and a recent 3D mapping exercise conducted by SRK, of which results would soon be announced.
Channel sample grades previously identified at the named pegmatites were as high as 2.49% lithium oxide.
The 30-hole programme was planned using a combination of data sources, including the ongoing 3D mapping being conducted by SRK, geophysics carried out by Terravision, locations of historical lithium mining operations, previous channel sampling, and ground truthing by Bradda Head geologists;
Bradda Head said the programme was "one of many" that it had planned for the rest of 2022.
Permits were also expected shortly from its Basin East Extension claim block, which is adjacent to Basin East where the firm has a JORC-compliant resource containing 305,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.
On receipt of the permit, Bradda Head said it would also move to start a drilling programme at the Basin project of sedimentary-hosted lithium, at the same time as drilling at the San Domingo pegmatite project.
"Our San Domingo pegmatite district is extensive, covering 13 square kilometres and was historically mined for lithium in the 1940s and 1950s within our permitted licence area," said chief executive officer Charles FitzRoy.
"It also contains historical gold, silver, copper, and vanadium mining operations.
"With the vocal and growing demand within the United States for its own lithium supply, and recognising the history of successful commercial mining of pegmatites at San Domingo, a successful pegmatite exploration programme at San Domingo should quickly catch the attention of North American end-users and battery manufacturers."
As a result, FitzRoy said the programme was a "very significant step forward" for the company.
"We're very excited to understand the true extent of pegmatite mineralisation at depth, following channel sampling with grades up to 2.49% lithium oxide, as well as grab samples with grades up to 8% lithium oxide, initially taken back in 2016.
"The development of our pegmatite assets is also particularly significant as it opens up a second exploration target with a totally different mineralisation style to our Arizona Basin lithium-in-clay deposits.
"Pegmatite mining and processing routes are well-established worldwide, and a successful drilling campaign will allow Bradda Head to move forward quickly to an operational study phase."
Charles FitzRoy said that, with all of its planned exploration drilling activity fully-funded, Bradda Head was "comfortable" to move on the two fronts concurrently - lithium pegmatites at San Domingo, and lithium clays at Basin.
"We have expanded our team in preparation for this increased activity.
"We have a well-prepared programme for the rest of this year in both locations, and we are confident that our anticipated deposits can drive further value for shareholders."
At 1412 BST, shares in Bradda Head Lithium were up 1.45% at 7p.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.