Cornish Lithium announces 50% increase in lithium resource at Trelavour Lithium Project
Cornish Lithium today announced a 50% increase in the JORC-compliant Mineral Resource for its Trelavour Lithium Project in Cornwall. This substantial upgrade follows extensive additional drilling, sampling, testing and modelling over the last twelve months.
• Resource update demonstrates 50% increase in contained lithium underpinning approximately 10,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide production for at least 20 years.
• Upgrade is another key step towards the Trelavour Lithium Project Feasibility Study which is due for completion by the end of 2025.
• Welcoming the update, Cornish Lithium’s CEO Jamie Airnes called the resource upgrade “one more step in Cornish Lithium’s plan to secure the UK’s supply of critical minerals, jobs and a strong industrial future.”
Commenting on the announcement, Jamie Airnes, CEO of Cornish Lithium said: “Today’s resource upgrade also provides a strong foundation for our Feasibility Study, which we expect to publish later this year, moving us closer to our Development Consent Order (DCO) application and commercial production. This is one more step in Cornish Lithium’s plan to secure the UK’s critical minerals supply, jobs and industrial future.”
The resource upgrade follows extensive additional drilling, sampling, testing and resource evaluation, overseen by globally recognised mining consultants who have signed off the resource to JORC standards. Importantly this represents a maiden declaration of resources in the Measured and Indicated categories – a material increase in the geological confidence of the orebody at the Trelavour Lithium Project.
Highlights:
• Updated Resource calculated using drilling data from 18,616 metres (m) of drilling.
o Mineral Resource drilling comprised 56 diamond and 88 reverse circulation holes.
o Over 20,000m of drilling now completed at the Trelavour Lithium Project including exploration and geotechnical drillholes.
• Total Mineral Resource: 88.5 million tonnes (Mt) @ 0.21% Li2O equivalent to 183.5 thousand tonnes (kt) of contained Li2O.
o 63.0 Mt in the Measured and Indicated category.
o 25.5 Mt in the Inferred category.
o Equates to 454.5 kt lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), an increase of 50% from the 2022 Resource.
• The Mineral Resource extends from surface, meaning a very low strip ratio in what is an existing former china clay pit.
o The updated Resource provides a key element of the Trelavour Lithium Project Feasibility Study, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Importantly the Trelavour Lithium Project is a fully integrated lithium project which produces lithium hydroxide as a final refined battery grade product with no dependency on overseas refineries.
o Utilises low carbon intensity processing proprietary technology which is now fully owned by Cornish Lithium.
o Will produce 10,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium hydroxide per annum (tpa)
o Plans to be in commercial production from 2029.
Mineral Resource for the Trelavour Lithium Project
Further notes
• The preceding statements of Mineral Resources conform to the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code) 2012 Edition. All tonnages reported are dry metric tonnes. Minor discrepancies may occur due to rounding to appropriate significant figures.
• The Mineral Resources have been prepared by Mining Plus UK Ltd with the oversight of Mark Howson of Mineral Resources Professional Ltd who was engaged by Mining Plus UK Ltd, for the period ended 31 January 2025, to prepare the JORC Mineral Resource Statement as a Competent Person as defined by the JORC Code, 2012 Edition, and who is accredited as ‘Qualified for Minerals Reporting’ (QMR) by the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining.
• The lithium occurs in mica minerals disseminated within a granite intrusion within the Cornubian Batholith, which in places, has been affected by partial kaolinization and minor ‘elvan’ dykes.
• Lithium Oxide (Li2O) is calculated as: 2.153 x Lithium Metal (Li).
• Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH.H2O) is calculated as: 6.046 x Lithium Metal (Li).
• Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) is calculated as: 5.323 x Lithium Metal (Li).
• The cut-off grade of 0.098% Li2O is based on lithium hydroxide monohydrate price of $US30,000/tonne ($US28,499/tonne: Net Price accounting for selling costs and royalties).
• Operating costs and Li recovery, used in the cut-off grade calculation, were based on the latest processing assumptions from the ongoing feasibility study. Recovery is calculated into each block in the block model based on formulas derived from process variability test work. Due to the variable recovery, the Mineral Resource is reported using cut-off grade by weathering domain (Kaolinised: 0.101% Li2O, Transitional: 0.099% Li2O, Fresh: 0.096% Li2O). The cut-off grade of 0.098% Li2O is a weighted average from across all weathering domains.
• Reasonable Prospect for Eventual Economic Extraction (RPEEE) was considered in the reporting of the Mineral Resource based on open pit mining methods where the open pit is constrained to the Nationally Significant Project (NSP) boundary. The RPEEE pit shell was generated based on the same economic assumptions as for cut-off grade and project specific mining and geotechnical parameters.
• The Mineral Resource statement has an effective date of 18 February 2025.
• Mineral Resources are not Ore Reserves and do not demonstrate economic viability.
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