Exploration and development company, Montero, has confirmed the presence of lithium in central Namibia.
Sampling was carried out at one metre intervals across the pegmatite, with 53 samples submitted for analysis to SGS Laboratories in Johannesburg.
Spodumene has been identified as the major lithium-bearing mineral and Montero is testing the lithium content of the spodumene-bearing pegmatites in Namibia’s Soris area.
Demand for lithium, which is used in the rechargeable batteries of electric vehicles, is forecast to rise as production of electric cars rises.
The lithium price has increased by more than 30% this year to a record $12 000/t.
On October 24, 2017, Montero entered into an agreement and is currently in a legal and technical due diligence period whereby Montero may at any time elect to acquire an 80% interest in the Property by committing to spending C$1 million and completing a feasibility study within 3 years of transfer of the mining rights to Montero.
Assay results from holes drilled by prior operators, which are expected shortly, will assist Montero to understand the lithium potential.
These, as well as mineralogical test results designed to understand the metallurgy, will enable the company to decide whether to proceed with trying to define a lithium resource, Dr Tony Harwood, CEO of Montero said.
The initial channel sampling programme returned an average lithium grade of 0.76% lithium oxide (Li2O) with values up to 3.66% Li2O from all channel samples.
The best result from channel sampling, designed to test for lithium where prior operators mined for tantalum and tin, returned 14 m of 1.93% Li2O.
Montero also has a rare earth elements project in Tanzania and a phosphates project in South Africa.
