Core buys more lithium land in the NT

11th April 2022 By: Esmarie Iannucci - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer Core Lithium has struck an agreement to acquire the Shoobridge project, some 80 km south-southeast from its Finnis lithium project, in the Northern Territory.

Core MD Stephen Biggins said it was a strategic acquisition with exploration upside that would complement Core's existing lithium projects in the Northern Territory.

"While we are firmly focussed on developing the Finniss lithium project, we are excited by projects such as Shoobridge that provide synergies and complementary lithium growth opportunities.

“The expected increases in resources from this deal and our well-funded resource drill programmes at Finniss this year should provide a strong platform for extending and expanding lithium production from the project as lithium prices continue to rise.”

Core will be the first company to explore and drill prospective, potentially lithium-rich pegmatite systems at Shoobridge for economic spodumene lithium mineralisation.

Construction of the Finniss project, in the Northern Territory, started late last year, and first production of lithium concentrate is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.

The Stage 1 Finniss project, comprising an openpit operation and underground operation, would require an initial capital investment of A$89-million to support lithium production of 175 000 t/y from a one-million-tonne-a-year plant.