HARARE – Li3 Lithium Corporation, a Canadian lithium exploration and development firm, has reported that its continuing exploration program at the Mutare Lithium Project has found lithium mineralization on a 1, 2 kilometer length at the Nels Luck pegmatite target.
The company owns half of the Mutare Lithium Project, while Premier African Minerals Limited owns the other half. Premier African Minerals Limited also owns the Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Mine, which is located 80 kilometers from Bulawayo.
According to Li3 Lithium Corp, 2349 metres of trenching uncovered 1, 2 kilometres long and up to 60 metres wide pegmatites at the Nels Luck claim group.
The exploration program, which is currently focused on the Nels Luck area of the Mutare Greenstone Belt (MGB) East zone, is expected to aid in identifying priority targets for the upcoming 5,000-metre exploration drilling program, which is set to begin in the third quarter of this year.
Li3 Lithium Corp has hitherto received assay results from 842 channels from the initial phase of the exploration program conducted between June and July 2023.
The Nels Luck group of claims host a number of mineral components that include lepidolite, spodumene, and tantalite, bearing lithium-cesium tantalum pegmatites.
“The trenching program conducted by Li3 Lithium has confirmed wide, well-developed pegmatite lithium mineralization at the Mutare Lithium Project, which remains open at depth and along strike.
“Initial assay results from the first half of the 2023 trenching and surface sampling programs are promising given that the Nels Luck area of the Mutare Lithium Project.
“A phase one diamond drilling program, up to 5,000 meters targeting the Nels Luck area, is scheduled to commence in the coming weeks as we begin to define the grade, thickness, and spatial continuity of the pegmatite trends,” said Li3 Lithium chief executive officer and President François Auclair.
Nels Luck group of claims are situated circa 15 kilometres from Sabi Star Lithium and Tantalum Mine.
Li3 Lithium focuses mainly on the extraction and development of hard rock spodumene lithium assets in Zimbabwe and Argentina, where the concern’s proprietors have significant experience from.
The Zimbabwean government has high ambitions for its mining industry, having projected a US$12 billion revenue from the mining sector by 2023.
As such, over the past year and a half, major Chinese battery metals companies have committed approximately US$1, 4 billion to acquire and develop lithium projects in Zimbabwe.
The country is targeting to earn at least US$500 million from lithium mining activities as the country moves closer to the set timeline to attain a US$12 billion mining industry.
Zimbabwe’s revenue from lithium exports is expected to surge as the commodity’s price continues on an upward trend on the global market.
Zimbabwe is estimated to hold Africa’s largest lithium resources and the fifth largest globally, is rapidly emerging as an important player within the lithium supply chain.
