Delta Lithium has announced upgraded mineral resource estimates at the Mt Ida lithium and rubidium project – giving it one of the highest-grade estimates in the world.
Total mineral resource at the project, around 100km northwest of Menzies in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields, sits at 14.8 million tonnes at 1.21 per cent lithium oxide, 170 parts per million tantalum pentoxide and 0.42 per cent rubidium oxide.
Minerals such as rubidium are in demand across many European countries as well as the likes of the US and Japan – with Mt Ida’s resource set to improve the economics of the lithium project and add an additional revenue stream.
“This is a very positive milestone for the critical mineral credentials of Mt Ida, with the delineation of a high-grade maiden rubidium resource accompanying the lithium and tantalum,” Delta Lithium managing director James Croser said.
“This presents as a worthy target for value-add and co-product revenue generation with little change to the current proposed process flowsheet. We will continue to seek understanding of the global significance of our rubidium in a very opaque market, dominated almost entirely by Chinese producers.
“Further good news with the lithium MRE update providing an uptick in resource confidence as Delta continues to advance and de-risk the Mt Ida lithium project at very low cost on the back of the gold drilling by Ballard Mining.”
The updated estimate comes following the recent demerger of assets into Ballard Mining, with Delta retaining a 41 per cent share in the company – a decision made to provide “balance sheet strength, ongoing gold exposure, and board representation through a non-executive director”.
This milestone, Ballard Mining said, positions the company to unlock the full potential of the Mt Ida gold project.
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