Lithium Ionic initiates 20,000m drill program at newly acquired Salinas Project, Minas Gerais, Brazil; following up on initial drill results of up to 1.53% Li2O over 11.36m and 1.22% Li2O over 13.76m
Lithium Ionic initiates 20,000m drill program at newly acquired Salinas Project,
Minas Gerais, Brazil; following up on initial drill results of up to 1.53% Li2O over
11.36m and 1.22% Li2O over 13.76m
TORONTO, ON, May 2, 2023 – Lithium Ionic Corp. (TSXV: LTH; OTCQB: LTHCF; FSE: H3N )
(“Lithium Ionic” or the “Company”) is pleased to report the initiation of a planned 20,000 metre
drilling program on claims within its newly acquired Salinas Project (the “Project” or “Salinas”)
(see March 13, 2023, press release), located in the northern region of Minas Gerais State, Brazil,
in the lithium-rich Araçuaí Pegmatite District (See Figure 1).
The Company has engaged Brazil’s largest drilling company, Geosol, to complete the program ,
which aims to define and expand multiple lithium-bearing spodumene-rich pegmatite veins
identified with surface sampling and drilling in 2022. Two drill rigs are currently operating on the
property, with an additional two expected to be mobilized in the coming weeks.
Highlights:
Initiation of a 20,000-metre diamond drilling program
Two drills operating, with an additional two being mobilized in the coming weeks
The drill program is designed to test, define, and expand multiple lithium-bearing
spodumene-rich pegmatites identified in 2022, which returned drill intercept
highlights of:
o 1.53% Li2O over 11.36m from 43.8m
o 1.22% Li2O over 13.76m from 36.6m
o 1.71% Li2O over 9.82m from 97.7m
o 1.19% Li2O over 13.35m from 239.7m
Blake H ylands, P.Geo., Chief Executive Officer of Lithium Ionic, commented, “While we are
focused on delivering our maiden mineral resource estimates at Bandeira and Galvani in Q2 of
this year, w e are very excited to kick off drilling at this promising target. 2022 drilling showed
strong grade and widths from well -formed, coarse-grained spodumene in pegmatites , extending
directly northeast of Latin Resources’ ~13Mt @ 1.2% Li2O Colina deposit. Our current drill pads
are only 500 metres from Colina and the potential to expand much further to the east is evidenced
by surface pegmatite showings and nearby historical artisanal workings that have been active for
decades. We believe this new target will be an important addition to our growing story and likely
contribute to a significant project update later this year.”
The Project is located in the lithium -rich Araçuaí Pegmatite District (“APD”), the northern part of
the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province, which hosts the largest lithium reserves in Brazil.
Salinas is situated approximately 100 kilometres north of Lithium Ionic’s Itinga claims (see Figure
1).
Salinas is located directly adjacent to Latin Resources’ Colina lithium deposit, which currently
contains an estimated 13.3Mt @ 1.2% Li2O. It also surrounds a large outcropping pegmatite that
has been mined for spodumene intermittently for several decades called “lavra do Zoe”. This
pegmatite body, located only 40 metres away from the Company’s tenement, has a footprint of at
least 15 metres by 210 metres.
The 4,000-metre, 24-hole, drill program completed in 2022 by Neolit Minerals Participações Ltda.
(“Neolit”) yielded excellent results, which returned highlights of 1.53% Li2O over 11.36m, 1.22%
Li2O over 13.76m, 1.71% Li2O over 9.82m and 1.19% Li2O over 13.35m. Since acquiring the
Salinas Project in March 2023 from Neolit, Lithium ionic has completed soil geochemistry on
select areas of the property, collecting a total of 540 samples, to help identify priority drill targets.
The highly evolved LCT (Lithium – Cesium – Tantalum) pegmatites have been identified over a
3.5-kilometre area, with the largest and highest-grade mineralized vein mapped over a strike
length of 500 metres by up to 13 metres wide. All pegmatite veins identified to date are under
drilled and remain open for expansion in all directions.
Figure 1 – Salinas Project Location, Drilling Highlights and 20,000m Planned Holes
About Lithium Ionic Corp.
Lithium Ionic is a Canadian-based lithium -focused mining company with properties covering
14,182 hectares located in the prolific Araçuaí province in Minas Gerais State, Brazil , which
boasts excellent infrastructure, including highways, access to hydroelectrical grid power , water,
and nearby commercial ports. Its Itinga Project neighbours CBL’s Cachoeira lithium mine and
Sigma Lithium Corp.’s construction-stage Grota do Cirilo project.
Quality Assurance and Control
During the drill program, assay samples were taken from NQ core and sawed in half. One-half
was sent for assaying at SGS Laboratory, a certified independent commercial laboratory, and the
other half was retained for results, cross checks, and future reference. A strict QA/QC program
was applied to all samples. Every sample was processed with Drying, crushing from 75% to 3
mm, homogenization, quartering in Jones, spraying 250 to 300 g of sample in steel mill 95% to
150. SGS laboratory carried out multi-element analysis for ICP90A analysis.
Qualified Persons
The technical information in this news release has been prepared by Carlos Costa, Vice President
Exploration of Lithium Ionic and Blake Hylands, CEO and director of Lithium Ionic, and both are
“qualified persons” as defined in NI 43-101.
The technical information relating to the historical exploration conducted by Neolit is historical in
nature and has not been independently verified by Lithium Ionic. A qualified person, as defined in
National Instrument 43-101, has not done sufficient work on behalf of Lithium Ionic to classify the
historical drilling reported above as c urrent mineral resources or mineral reserves and Lithium
Ionic is not treating the historical drill results as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.
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