Jindalee Resources Limited (ASX: JRL) has further increased the scale of its 100% owned McDermitt Project located near the Nevada-Oregon border in the US.
Confirmation has been received from the US Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the lodgement and stamping of an additional 65 claims immediately adjacent to the 355 existing claims at McDermitt.
These claims expand the size of the project by approximately 18% to 34 sq. km, and cover the interpreted strike continuation of lithium (Li) mineralised sediments identified from mapping and drilling, further consolidating Jindalee’s ground position in the district.
Executive Director, Linday Dudfield, said Jindalee recently announced a maiden Inferred Mineral Estimate of 155Mt @ 2000ppm Li (0.43% Li20) at a 1750ppm Li cut-off at McDermitt, which together with the substantial Exploration Target surrounding the mineral estimate confirm McDermitt as one of the largest lithium deposits in the US.
Mapping and drilling undertaken by Jindalee has demonstrated that the fine grained sediments hosting the lithium mineralisation at McDermitt are flat lying, up to 165m thick and show excellent continuity over kilometres of strike, with the Exploration Target2 constrained only by the previous western boundary of the project area.
The recently acquired claims include scattered outcrops of the prospective sediments, giving confidence that future drilling of this area will result in a further increase to the scale of the McDermitt project.
Mr Dudfield said the expansion of Jindalee’s ground position comes as the US Government further strengthens its support for the development of domestic critical mineral projects, including lithium.
US demand for lithium for Li-ion batteries is currently overwhelmingly satisfied by imported material. In June 2018 the US Department of the Interior included lithium in its list of minerals critical to the US economic and national security, and in May 2019 the American Minerals Security Act, designed to secure mineral resources and reduce reliance on foreign sources, was introduced with bipartisan support.
In the latest development, on 15 January 2020 the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Committee (FPISC), voted “to add non-energy mining as a new covered infrastructure sector to increase access to a domestic source of minerals that are critical to the nation’s economy and security.”3
Ongoing Work Programme
Mr Dudfield said Jindalee continues to advance the McDermitt project with US-based consultants recently contracted to assist with metallurgical testwork and permitting.
A metallurgist with experience evaluating US sediment hosted lithium projects is currently reviewing metallurgical testwork completed to date, which is expected to result in recommendations for future project development work.
The scope of work also includes a review of financial models developed for McDermitt by independent parties and used to guide Jindalee’s drilling programmes and inform the recent Inferred Resource Estimate and satisfy JORC (2012) Code requirements regarding the likelihood of future economic extraction.
The company has also engaged a Nevada based environmental consultancy with extensive experience permitting mineral projects in both Oregon and Nevada to advise on permitting the McDermitt project.
