Savannah Resources plc (LON:SAV and SWB: SAV) , the AIM quoted resource development company, this morning announced further results from the ongoing reverse circulation (‘RC’) drill programme at the Mina do Barroso Lithium Project in Portugal (Figure 1). The drill programme continues to return significant intersections of lithium mineralisation as Savannah aims to increase the current JORC – 2012 compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 3.2 million tonnes at 1.0% Li(2) O containing 32,000t of Li(2) O, which was defined at the Reservatorio Deposit, one of three targets currently being evaluated. To view the press release with the illustrative maps and diagrams please use the following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5127E_-2018-2-9.pdf
HIGHLIGHTS:
— Total of 87 holes for 7,081m drilled to date as part of the ongoing RC drill programme across three primary targets
— Broad zones of lithium mineralisation intersected giving further confidence of significant resource potential of Mina do Barroso
— Drill programme is ongoing and has been extended as a result of the positive results received to date
— Grandao Deposit – New Mineral Resource Estimate on track for Q1 2018 to add to current Project resource
o Significant widths of lithium mineralisation identified. Key results include:
— 59m at 1.13% Li(2) O from 5m, in 17GRARC31
— 33m at 1.22% Li(2) O from 40m, in 17GRARC41
— 31m at 1.07% Li(2) O from 40m, including 24 at 1.31% Li(2) O in 17GRARC25
— 32m at 0.89% Li(2) O from 35m, including 17m at 1.29% Li(2) O in 17GRARC38
o Exploration efforts to be accelerated with a diamond drill rig to mobilise in second half of February, to test depth extensions of Grandao mineralisation and begin collecting samples for the next phase of metallurgical test work
o New high priority targets identified to the north east of Grandao: Romainho, Campo de Futebol and Peigro Negro will be drill tested
— NOA Deposit – drilling of a further six holes has confirmed the presence of lithium mineralisation over a 200m strike length together with good down dip extensions of at least 50m. Key results include:
— 15m at 0.83% Li(2) O from 5m, including 9m at 1.27% Li(2) O in 17NOARC06
— 14m at 0.73% Li(2) O from 19m, including 7m at 1.26% Li(2) O in 17NOARC10
— Phase 2 of the metallurgical test work programme underway – samples taken from Grandao, Reservatorio and NOA being tested with results expected in Q1 2018
Savannah’s CEO, David Archer said: “We are delighted to see the expanding geometry of Grandao with both near surface and deeper mineralisation. The Grandao Deposit is shaping up as a major additional component to the overall global Mineral Resource for the Mina do Barroso Lithium Project.
“The overall tempo of activities continues to accelerate as the Project’s potential becomes more apparent. We are working to an aggressive timetable to deliver on a series of major milestones over coming months, which we believe will highlight the Project’s potential to be a key, up-stream component of the European lithium valued added chain.”
Figure 1. Mina do Barroso Project Summary Map showing prospects and drilling completed to date – SEE PDF
Grandao
A total of 57 drill holes for 4,708m (17GRARC01-57) have been completed and results for drill holes 17GRARC24 to 42 have now been received and returned further very encouraging results (Tables 1-2 and Figure 2).
Drilling targeted at intersecting the near surface, shallowly west dipping pegmatite body has continued to meet with significant success. Drilling has further expanded the zone of lithium mineralisation, which now extends to over 400m in length, reaching up to 300m in width and with anomalous mineralisation recorded 185m below surface.
Significant drill results targeting the flat lying pegmatite body are summarised in Table 1.
Table 1. Summary of drill results for Grandao flat lying pegmatite using a 0.2% and 0.5% Li(2) O cut-off
0.2% Li(2) O Cut-Off 0.5% Li(2) O Cut-Off ----------- ------------------------- ----------------------- ------ Hole Li(2) Li(2) ID From Width O From Width O ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC25 40 31 1.07 47 24 1.31 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC26 32 17 1 54 1 0.9 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC26 54 2 0.61 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC27 26 10 1.29 26 9 1.38 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC27 41 15 0.67 41 15 0.67 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC28 NSA ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC29 NSA ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC30 0 27 0.82 0 14 1.28 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC32 0 24 0.67 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC32 61 2 0.74 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC33 NSA ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC34 30 1 1.1 30 1 1.1 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC34 44 17 0.39 46 2 0.81 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 56 2 1.03 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC35 3 56 0.64 3 1 0.55 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 9 16 1.27 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 39 4 1.1 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 48 3 1.07 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC36 33 7 0.73 36 4 1.04 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC37 34 16 1.11 58 10 1.32 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC37 58 11 1.23 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC38 8 3 0.71 9 2 0.96 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC38 21 9 1.1 21 9 1.1 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC38 35 32 0.89 35 17 1.29 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 55 2 0.81 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 61 2 0.56 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC39 11 17 0.76 13 9 0.93 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC39 34 16 0.71 24 3 0.74 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 36 8 1.1 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC40 9 11 0.97 10 9 1.11 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC40 28 15 1.04 28 14 1.08 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------ 17GRARC41 40 33 1.22 40 33 1.22 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------
Further drilling of the newly identified sub-vertical body has met with further success with another 59m wide zone of lithium mineralisation identified and this body remains open both along strike and down dip and is a high priority target for further drilling. Recently received results are summarised in Table 2.
Table 2. Summary of drill results for Grandao new vertical pegmatites using a 0.2% and 0.5% Li(2) O cut-off
0.2% Li(2) O Cut-Off 0.5% Li(2) O Cut-Off ----------- ------------------------- ------------------------- Hole Li(2) Li(2) ID From Width O From Width O ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC24 30 12 0.67 31 1 0.68 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 35 6 1.05 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC31 5 59 1.13 5 59 1.13 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC31 68 22 0.48 72 2 0.69 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC31 102 4 1.01 78 7 0.97 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC31 121 11 0.95 102 4 1.01 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC31 138 2 0.85 121 7 1.37 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 138 1 1.36 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 3 1 0.29 37 2 0.79 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 13 2 0.21 48 2 0.67 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 36 4 0.56 110 1 0.7 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 45 5 0.4 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 55 1 0.27 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 97 1 0.2 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 100 1 0.28 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 108 6 0.3 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17GRARC42 126 1 0.21 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Figure 2. Summary of drilling at Grandao showing significant assay results and holes with pending assays – SEE PDF
NOA
Drilling at the NOA deposit now totals 10 holes for 768m (17NOARC01-10) and results from 5 holes (17NOARC06-10) have been received. Results have been encouraging with 10m-15m wide zones of pegmatite being intersected over a strike length of 200m and a down dip depth of around 50m (Table 4 and Figure 3). Further work is now required to access the full potential of the deposit.
Table 4. Summary of drill results for NOA reported at a 0.2% and 0.5% Li(2) O cut-off
0.2% Li(2) O Cut-Off 0.5% Li(2) O Cut-Off ----------- ------------------------- ------------------------- Hole Li(2) Li(2) ID From Width O% From Width O% ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC06 9 15 0.83 9 7 1.27 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 20 1 1.46 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC07 31 3 0.18 51 3 1.55 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC07 48 12 0.56 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC08 6 6 1.01 7 4 1.35 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC08 51 6 0.25 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC09 10 7 1.04 11 5 1.28 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC09 63 1 0.23 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC09 65 1 0.26 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC10 2 3 0.56 3 2 0.71 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 17NOARC10 19 14 0.73 23 7 1.26 ----------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Figure 3. Summary of recent drilling at NOA, showing drilling completed and significant assays received – SEE PDF
Ongoing Drill Programme
Based on the new results an additional 16 RC drill holes have been added to the programme at Grandao, Romainho, Campo de Futebol and Piero Negro in order to further evaluate the potential of the wider project area.
In addition, to accelerate exploration, a diamond drill rig will be mobilised to site for an initial 1,500m drill programme, which will include sample collection for the phase 3 metallurgical test work programme, stratigraphic/structural holes and the extension of six existing RC holes to depth to target the newly identified broad zone of lithium mineralisation identified at depth below Grandao.
Metallurgical Test Work
The test work programme to determine the crush size and the density at which a 6% concentrate can be produced and mass yield, together with the three fundamental design parameters for developing a gravity process flow sheet based on the dense medium (DMS) process, is ongoing. Work is expected to be completed in Q1 2018.