Non-independent researcher SP Angel has reported that mining and exploration company CAA Mining is actively engaged in drilling operations to delineate a new lithium-in-spodumene resource in Ghana.
Drilling services company GTS’s rig is potentially penetrating a central pegmatite dome from which surrounding pegmatite dykes have originated. Assays from these drilling activities are currently being prepared for transport to the ALS assay laboratory in South Africa.
CAA Mining holds five exploration licences in the SaltPond area, encompassing 566 km2. The company has made substantial progress in drilling pegmatite targets near the coast at the Salt Pond-Makessim lithium project, in Ghana, with GTS's multipurpose rig drilling about 200 m a day, completing four reverse circulation (RC) holes so far. Samples indicate sections of pegmatite ranging from 10 m to 50 m true-width, with some containing albitised spodumene.
The ongoing drilling effort focuses on a 3-km trend where earlier sampling revealed 0.3% lithium in the pegmatite surface rock chips. More than 200 assay samples are being transported to the ALS assay laboratory in South Africa by SGS after initial preparation in Tarkwa. CAA Mining has also set up a local laboratory for rapid laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis, although the LIBS analyser is presently undergoing servicing.
Exploration initiatives by the CAA Mining team include auger drilling and soil sampling to identify nine drilling targets. Notably, two pegmatites on either side of the Eduakron trend have been identified, with pXRF analysis on the RC rock chips showing lithium pathfinder minerals of rubidium, niobium and tin.
CAA Mining has conducted petrographic analysis on rock chip samples, revealing varying percentages of spodumene with different crystal formations.
The management team, led by geologist Douglas Chikohora, includes Will Slack and Dr John Arthur, with funding support from the Lowell fund, Australia, and potential interest from the Malaysia Infrastructure Investment Fund sovereign wealth fund.
CAA Mining, having invested about £4-million in local infrastructure and licences in Ghana, also holds shares in Livista Ghana, a lithium refinery company with plans for a lithium refinery in Germany and potential lithium processing in Ghana.
Additionally, CAA Mining holds an option over a gold project with a 276 000 oz resource.
Currently, CAA Mining possesses about £500 000 in cash, following a recent fundraise, and has deposited $200 000 towards the planned 5 000 m of RC drilling. Recent developments in the Ghanaian lithium sector include the granting of a full mining exploitation licence to Atlantic Lithium for the development of the Ewoyaa lithium mine.
In the context of industry peers, SP Angel notes that the average proven and probable resource in the peer group table is 22.1-million tonnes grading 1.19% lithium oxide, doubling to 44.1-million tonnes in the measured, inferred, and indicated category at 1.18%.
The average lithium mining project in SP Angel's peer group produces about 374 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate, equivalent to 47 000 t/y of lithium carbonate, with average capital expenditure of $336-million and operating expenditure of $481/t free-on-board.
