Is this WA’s most important near-term lithium mine?

Global Lithium Resources (GLR) believes its Manna project could become one of the most important near-term lithium development projects in WA.

The mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the project, which is located in Western Australia, has increased by 43 per cent to 51.6 million tonnes at one per cent lithium oxide.

According to GLR, this makes the project the second largest lithium resources in the Eastern Goldfields region within an infrastructure rich corridor.

The new MRE suggests that Manna now hosts 515,000 tonnes of lithium oxide, up from the previous 406,000 tonnes.

Results also increase the deposit’s indicated JORC classification by 63 per cent to 32.9 million tonnes at 1.04 per cent lithium oxide.

GLR managing director Ron Mitchell called the updated MRE a great outcome following an extensive exploration campaign undertaken in 2023.

“The 63 per cent increase in the indicated resource is particularly important as we continue to advance our geological understanding of the deposit,” he said.

“Coupled with the positive technical results in relation to our commercial scale, ore sorting trials and ongoing metallurgical test work, our confidence in the robustness of the Manna deposit has grown.

“This growing resource demonstrates that Manna has potential to become one of the most important near-term lithium development projects in Western Australia, a proven low risk mining jurisdiction.”

GLR is working its way towards a definitive feasibility study for Manna, which will incorporate the updated MRE.

The company has also indicated that further resource growth potential exists at depth along strike of the deposit.