Rare Earth Minerals says Cinovec mine boosted by lithium upgrade

Rare Earth Minerals plc (LON:REM) said the potential mine at the Cinovec lithium/tin project in the Czech Republic has been boosted by a substantial upgrade to the higher confidence indicated resource.

The lithium indicated resource was lifted 420% to 2.6 Mt (million tonnes) of LCE (lithium carbonate) contained in 232.8 Mt at 0.45%  Li2O (lithium oxide at a 0.1% lithium cut-off.

Meanwhile, the total lithium resource at the project increased 11.8% to 6.46 Mt of lithium carbonate, contained in 606.8 Mt at 0.43% lithium oxide, revealed European Metals Holdings, the operator of the site.

The indicated resource for tin increased by 64% to 28.6 Mt at 0.23% tin, 0.54% lithium oxide for 65,800 tonnes of tin and 0.38 million tonnes of lithium carbonate.

Rare Earths said the exploration target earmarked for lithium remained at between 350 and 450 million tonnes at 0.39% to 0.47% for between 3.4Mt and 5.3 Mt of lithium carbonate.

The significant increase in the indicated portion and the overall resource will have a positive impact for mine planning and the life of mine.

A pre-feasibility study is ongoing and due for publication at the end of March next year.

REM’s chief executive Kiran Morzaria said: “The increase in indicated mineral resource to 2.6Mt of LCE at the Cinovec lithium / tin project is an excellent result from the drilling, interpretation and geological modelling that has occurred over the last few months.

“This work has not only succeeded in delivering substantial increase in the mineral resource, but it has also, critically, delivered a substantial the indicated portion of mineral resource. This will allow the management to maximise the economic returns by targeting high grade sections of the deposit.

“In addition, the conceptual target of between 3.4Mt and 5.3Mt LCE, further illustrates that the Cinovec lithium / tin project still has ample scope for expansion, either in size or in production capacity.”

REM holds a 17.57% economic interest in Cinovec, via its interest in European Metals.

On Friday, EMH held its AGM, in which Rare Earths placing in EMH was approved. It is anticipated that this will complete over the next few days after which REM will hold 20.76%.

Shares in REM nudged 0.94% higher to 0.535p.

Source: http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/169382/rare-earth-minerals-says-cinovec-mine-boosted-by-lithium-upgrade-169382.html