Plymouth Minerals has announced that a drill rig is now drilling at San Jose testing extensions of lithium-tin mineralisation.

Mineralisation is open at depth (+350m vertical) and along strike (over 500m defined to date) and the programme will test these extensions which are currently part of the Exploration Target. Additional drilling within areas already defined as Inferred category JORC Resources is designed to increase resources confidence to Indicated category.

San Jose is a very large lithium-tin deposit hosted in zinnwaldite micas and is very similar to other large lithium-tin mic-hosted deposits in Europe. The first lithium carbonate produced at an industrial scale was made using this kind of lithium-bearing mica. This style of mineralisation typically has a global deposit grade of 0.4-0.6% Li2O and is considered amenable to large, bulk mining, open pit operations when it outcrops as it does at San Jose.

San Jose is special in that it has significant zones of high-grade mineralisation (0.9-1.6% Li2O). These zones, as illustrated by intercepts in the deepest drilling such as SJ-1A which ends in 6.5m @ 1.6% Li2O from 386m downhole have the potential to be considered for underground optimisation work and are targeted for further drilling.

This drilling will continue for several weeks. Results can be incorporated into the Mining Licence Application Submission which outlines the mining, processing, economic modelling and marketing for a lithium-tin mine at San Jose.

This document has to be submitted to the Regional Government by late October 2017 as part of the conditions of successful tendering in 2016. Plymouth is preparing this document in partnership with its local partner, Valoriza Mineria, subsidiary of major listed Spanish construction company Sacyr.