Core Exploration Ltd (ASX:CXO) has revealed a substantial resource upgrade for its Grants Lithium Deposit at its Finniss Lithium Project in the Northern Territory. The Grants resource is now 2.89 million tonnes at 1.5% Li2O (lithium oxide) and is one of the highest-grade spodumene deposits in Australia. Interestingly, Grants resource tonnes have increased by 42% in size at a high grade of 1.5% Li2O, with over one-third classified in the measured category - the highest resource confidence classification. The global resource for the Finniss Project is now 4.3 million tonnes at 1.4% Li2O and is expected to grow further in the coming weeks when a new resource estimate is announced for BP33. The increase in the size of the estimate and confidence of the resource, following successful drilling in recent months, provides Core with great conviction that the project has the potential to deliver robust returns, which is expected to be confirmed by the definitive feasibility study (DFS). READ: Core Exploration targets lithium concentrate production at Finniss by late 2019 Core is in the final stages of completing a DFS for the development of a spodumene concentrate operation from the Finniss Lithium Project and expects to deliver the DFS in late November 2018. The company is targeting commencement of mining and construction mid-2019 and first production of high quality spodumene concentrate in late 2019. The DFS is expected to dramatically build on the strong financial outcomes highlighted in the pre-feasibility study ($140 million net present value and 142% internal rate of return). The DFS is likely to consider substantially expanded resources and longer mine life, optimised recoveries and increased grade of product as well as further confirmation of offtake and customer prepayment finance. The Finniss Lithium Project has arguably the best supporting infrastructure and logistics chain to Asia of any Australian lithium project. Finniss is within 25 kilometres of port, power station, gas, rail and one hour by sealed road to workforce accommodated in Darwin and importantly to Darwin Port - Australia's nearest port to Asia. High grade, low processing costs and cheap haulage make Core's Finniss Project potentially one of the least capital intensive and most cost competitive spodumene operations in Australia. READ: Core Exploration enters lithium off-take term sheet with US$35 million prepayment, share rise Lithium demand is expected to rise significantly over the coming years due to demand from growing electric vehicle (EV) sales (lithium is a major component of lithium-ion batteries used in EVs). EV sales recently reported year-on-year growth of 65% in the US, 44% in China and 42% in Europe.
