While mining activities at the Finniss lithium mine have been suspended since January, Core Lithium is setting the operation up for future success.
To do so, Core is focused on exploration, with hopes to extract more value from a promising lithium district.
“Our strategic focus will be on making Finniss a more robust operation in the future, and exploration is a key enabler of this,” Core Lithium chief executive officer Paul Brown said.
“In FY25, we will be drill testing priority targets around Finniss, potentially adding meaningful life to future lithium mining operations. We will also be advancing earlier stage, low multi-commodity exploration activities within our Northern Territory landholding to demonstrate the value in these projects.”
Alongside exploration ground at Finniss, Core Lithium is represented by a host of development assets, including Shoobridge, Anningie and Barrow Creek.
Over half of Core’s FY25 exploration expenditure will be spent on prospects in the Finniss region. The Finniss operation has a total mineral resource of 48.2 million tonnes at 1.26 per cent lithium oxide.
Elsewhere, Core said it will be the first company to explore prospective, potentially lithium-rich pegmatite systems at Shoobridge.
Anningie and Barrow Creek – spanning eight exploration licences across more than 2800km2 in central Northern Territory – have also yet to be drill tested.
While production has been paused at Finniss, Core has continued to process ore stockpiles.
During the June quarter, the company shipped 33,027 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene concentrate and 19,771dmt of lithium fines, with its FY24 spodumene concentrate sales of 97,423dmt exceeding its revised guidance of 80,000–90,000dmt.
Core Lithium produced 95,020dmt of spodumene concentrate at an average grade of 4.8 per cent for FY24, exceeding the revised guidance of 90,000–95,000dmt, and 19,771dmt of lithium fines at a 1.3 per cent grade.
The June quarter also saw Core Lithium appoint Paul Brown as its new chief executive officer, following Gareth Manderson’s resignation in March, as well as the permanent appointment of James Virgo as chief financial officer.
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