Core Lithium Ltd (ASX:CXO) has boosted its JORC resource inventory through the release of a maiden resource for the Sandras lithium deposit within the Finniss Lithium Project, Northern Territory. The resource at Sandras totals 1.3 million tonnes grading 1.0% lithium and it boosts the overall resource for the Finniss Project to 6.34 million tonnes grading 1.39% lithium. The growing lithium resource at Finniss increases the project's potential value as a future mining operation which is being investigated further by the definitive feasibility study (DFS) underway. READ: Core Exploration becomes Core Lithium Ltd to reflect battery metal focus Core's managing director Stephen Biggins said: "Adding an additional 1.3 million tonnes to our Finniss resource base from Sandras is a great result. "The global Mineral Resource for the Finniss Project has increased rapidly from 1.8 million tonnes at the start of 2018 to 6.3 million tonnes today, and Core's management is of the view that the global Mineral Resource will grow even further over coming 2 months, given the quality of the drilling results received from the recent exploration drilling at a number of new prospects, namely Carlton, Hang Gong and Lees-Booths-Link. "These new Mineral Resources have the potential to add substantial upside to the economics of the Finniss Lithium Project, in addition to the lithium Mineral Resources already defined at Grants and BP33." More resource upgrades to come, DFS advancing Core's global JORC resource inventory is expected to increase over the coming weeks as new resource estimates are revealed for Carlton, followed by Hang Gong and then Lees-Booths-Link. The company is undertaking a DFS for the development of a spodumene concentrate operation at Finniss. Core is targeting commencement of mining and construction in mid-2019 and first production of high-quality spodumene concentrate in late 2019, subject to financing and regulatory approvals. The DFS aims to build upon the strong financial outcomes highlighted in the pre-feasibility (PFS) released in June 2018.
