Bitterwasser Lithium Brine Drilling, Aiming for first African Brine Discovery: Arcadia Minerals (ASX: AM7, FRA: 8OH) Exploration Journey in Dec Quarter

Highlights during the quarter

• Arcadia Minerals raised AU$431,250 on completion of a placement of 4,312,500 CDIs to major shareholder Raubex in October 2023.
• AM7 has hired services of Hammerstein Drilling Company for drilling nine vertical drill holes sited at six locations in the Bitterwasser Lithium Basin.
• Subsequent sample results from drilling confirmed that lithium grades were increasing to depth at the Bitterwasser Lithium Project.
• During the quarter, AM7 completed Phase 3 drilling over the Eden Lithium Pan covering 26 infill holes over 213m on a 250m drill spacing – revised resource expected.
• Metaltek South Africa (Pty) Ltd is carrying out additional metallurgical test work over Eden lithium pan implementing its patented FOHL process.
• Swanson Tantalum mine construction progressing well.

Diversified exploration company Arcadia Minerals Limited (ASX: AM7, FRA: 8OH) is swiftly progressing developments at its battery metal projects targeting lithium, nickel, copper, and tantalum in Namibia. Now, let’s understand how far the company has come on the growth trajectory, following its three-pillar strategy.

Data source: Company update

In this article, we will get you details of the significant updates from the latest quarter ended 31 December 2023. Notably, the firm raised AU$431,250 on completion of a placement of 4,312,500 CDIs to substantial shareholder Raubex in October 2023.

Lithium in Brines and Lithium in Clays Project:

• Lithium in Brines Project

The firm has begun drilling at its Bitterwasser Lithium in Brines Project, aimed at discovering mineralised brine aqueous bodies with lithium and associated mineralisation. AM7 has hired services of Hammerstein Drilling Company (Pty) Ltd for drilling nine vertical drill holes sited at six locations in the Bitterwasser Basin. In early February, the company reported encouraging results, suggesting that lithium grades increase to depth at the project site. To know more about this development, click here.

• Lithium in Clays Project

For the Eden Pan clay deposit at the Bitterwasser Lithium in Clays Project, Phase 1 and Phase 2 drill campaigns defined a JORC Mineral Resource of 286,909-ton Lithium Carbonate (LCE) for 85 million tons at a cut-off grade of 500ppm lithium in the Inferred Category.

During the quarter, AM7 took forward the exploration activities and completed Phase 3 drilling over the Eden Pan covering 26 infill holes over 213m on a 250m drill spacing. Total 155 clays samples and 13 Quality Control samples have been submitted for analyses at Scientific Services in South Africa. Assay results from this campaign were released in early February. To know more, read here.

The company is likely to announce a revised resource statement for the Eden Pan by the first quarter of the year 2024.

• Also, Metaltek South Africa (Pty) Ltd is carrying out additional metallurgical test work for the project using ~140kg of middle unit clay material from Phase 3 drilling. Metaltek has implemented its patented Fines Optimized Heap Leaching (FOHL) process, as an effective deposition leaching technology to extract various target metals from challenging feed mineral.
• In November 2023, Arcadia Minerals started exploration drilling on the Meerkat Pan.

Swanson Tantalum/Lithium Project:

The road construction work at the Swanson Tantalum Project continued during the quarter. Also, the company is advancing final design work for the water pipeline, power supply, civil works for the plant and the procurement of equipment.

AM7 shares traded at AU$0.070 on 07 March 2024, with a market cap of over AU$7 million.