Azure Minerals Ltd (ASX:AZS, OTC:AZRMF) has surged on encountering the highest individual lithium results to date in the latest round of drilling at the Andover Project in Western Australia, with an assay of 105 metres at 1.26% lithium holding a smaller intersection of half a metre at 5.02% lithium, an exceptionally high-grade result.
The rest of the drilling results were also significant, with multiple intersections over 30 metres in width and average grades above 1% lithium.
“These results highlight the exceptional thickness and high grades of lithium mineralisation within the Andover pegmatites and the potential for Andover to host lithium resources of world-class scale and tenor,” Azure Minerals managing director Tony Rovira said.
“It is pleasing that our visual estimates of the spodumene content observed within the drill core correlate very closely with the assays.
“The successful intersection of significant quantities of spodumene mineralisation over substantial widths demonstrates our potential to deliver more broad, strongly mineralised intersections.
“Further assay results are expected to be released within the next two weeks.”
Shares hit record
Investors have also welcomed the results with AZS shares as much as 74.4% higher this morning to A$1.09, a new record, with more than 15 million changing hands in little more than an hour.
The broadest mineralised intersections Azure encountered in this round of drilling included:
- 105.0 metres at 1.26% lithium from 256.3 metres, including 42.1 metres at 2.51% from 259 metres, 22.8 metres at 3.57% and 0.50 metres at 5.02%;
- 54.4 metres at 1.07% lithium from 310.5 metres, including 7.4 metres at 1.93% from 357.5 metres;
- 52.1 metres at 0.91% lithium from 22.3 metres, including 14.4 metres at 1.59% from 22.3 metres and 8.6 metres at 1.56% from 65.8 metres; and
- 38.0 metres at 0.97% lithium from 442 metres, including 17.5 metres at 1.35% from 442.5 metres and 8.9 metres at 1.72%.
- 4.9 metres at 1.38% lithium from 188.4 metres, including 3.0 metres at 1.90% from 190.3 metres;
- 11.2 metres at 1.79% lithium from 325.7 metres, including 8.6 metres at 2.24% from 325.7 metres and 4.3 metres at 3.26%;
- 29.4 metres at 0.88% lithium from 268.3 metres, including 4.5 metres at 1.79% from 268.3 metres and 6.4 metres at 1.70% from 291.3 metres;
- 10.8 metres at 1.03% lithium from 279.5 metres;
- 5.0 metres at 1.40 lithium from 186.7 metres; and
- 6.6 metres at 1.66 lithium from 62.7 metres.
“To date, we’ve only drilled along one kilometre of the strongly mineralised AP0010-AP0011-AP0012 corridor that has now been mapped and sampled over a strike length of more than two kilometres, giving this prospect substantial volume potential,” Rovira continued.
“Additionally, across the project area, our geologists have identified at least another eight zones hosting multiple outcropping spodumene-rich pegmatites with previously reported surface sampling returning high grades of lithium over significant strike lengths.
“More rigs are set to be mobilised to site to test these high-priority targets.”
Azure has so far completed 23 diamond holes and eight reverse circulation (RC) holes in lithium exploration at Andover. The company will report further assays as they are received.