Andrada Mining Limited has announced an increase in both lithium grade and volume in its latest Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the V1V2 pegmatite at the Uis mine.
The new estimate reveals a lithium grade of 0.79% lithium oxide (Li₂O), a significant improvement from the 0.73% reported in 2023.
The update follows the MRE released on 6 February 2023 and incorporates analytical results from the final 16 drill holes of the 2022 drilling programme, as well as a volume depletion surface as of 30 August 2024.
The update reveals that contained lithium oxide increased from 587,000 tonnes to 610,000 tonnes.
The measured resource tonnage also increased by 30% to approximately 27.3 million tonnes (mt), with the indicated resource tonnage increase of 2% to approximately 17.5mt.
The total MRE tonnage decreased from 81 mt in 2023 to 77.5mt, which is said to be caused by ongoing mining depletion.
Andrada Mining Chief Executive Officer Anthony Viljoen expressed confidence in the updated estimates.
“Our exploration team has once again demonstrated the significant lithium potential of the V1V2 pegmatite, shown by increases in both the average lithium grade and contained metal tonnage. The definition of a reserve provides a higher degree of confidence towards the completion of ongoing studies and paves the way for accelerated production,” Viljoen said.
He further noted that the updated resource allows the mine to better quantify the potential lithium concentrate credits in order to generate it alongside the tin production, optimising the overall project economics.
The updated MRE is based on a total of 145 historical ISCOR drill holes comprising 8 Diamond Drillholes (DD) and 137 Reverse Circulation (RC) drill holes.
In addition, Andrada completed 77 validation drill holes, consisting of 48 DD and 29 RC drill holes, between 2018 and 2023.
The drill holes were completed on a nominal grid spacing of 60m by 60m, with wider spacing of up to 80m by 200m for the deeper portions.
Most holes were drilled at a vertical orientation, but selected shallower holes were inclined at angles up to -70° southeast to obtain intersections more perpendicular to the dipping pegmatite.
