Switch Metals plc (LON:SWT), the critical metals company focused on tantalum and lithium in Côte d’Ivoire, has provided an update on progress towards the maiden tantalum Mineral Resource Estimate at its Issia Project.
As previously announced, the Company has completed a pitting programme across approximately 2.5 km² of the Badinikro permit area on a 100m x 100m grid, representing the MRE-1 target area. An MRE-2 pitting and sampling programme has also been completed, with potential for extension of resource envelope across the wider alluvial drainage basin targets.
Highlights
· Encouraging on-site XRF analyser screening results confirm large envelopes of coltan mineralisation within MRE-1 target area with surface footprint covering 1.35 km2, 54 % of this first target area
· Highest-grade zones overlay pegmatite outcrops, validating exploration targeting and hard rock upside potential
· As geological modelling has advanced, infill pitting at 50m x 50m and 25m x 25m spacing is planned to further define the resource model and support robust JORC-compliant categorisation
· Following on-site XRF screening and pulverisation, priority samples have been submitted to an independent laboratory, assay results are being progressed and the Company will update shareholders as results are received and processed
· RC Drilling results for Kabore and Zraty pegmatites expected in the near term
Issia Resource Programme Update
Pitting across the initial MRE-1 target area of 2.5km² of the Badinikro permit (112 km2) area has been completed on a 100m x 100m grid, representing a substantial and systematic programme of work (Figure 1). Preliminary on-site XRF screening indicates coltan mineralisation (with +4 g/t coltan grades in soils) across approximately 54% of the area tested. The highest-grade zones (+10 g/t coltan grades in soils) correlate with known pegmatite outcrops, providing a strong validation of the Company’s exploration targeting and the hard-rock upside potential at Issia.
As geological modelling has advanced, the Company will complete infill pitting at 50m x 50m and, in priority areas, 25m x 25m spacing, commensurate with the scale of the project and designed to support robust JORC-compliant resource classification. The Company is moving promptly to complete this programme and will provide a further update as it progresses.
Independent laboratory assays are being performed in parallel and the Company will update shareholders as results are received.
Wider Issia Programme
MRE-1 only forms part of a wider multi-stage resource development programme at Issia (Figure 1).
The MRE-2 pitting and sampling programme has also been completed on an additional 1.3 km2 and will complement MRE-1 (with a combined 3.8 km2), with work set to progress across the wider shallow tantalum targets, including approximately 7 km² of adjacent alluvial drainage basin targets. In parallel, the Company continues to advance its hard-rock exploration programme at Zraty and Kabore.
The Company is also assessing the potential to incorporate the expanded datasets generated from the shallow tantalum programmes with results from the hard-rock drilling programme into an updated Exploration Target and broader resource model for Issia. Together, these datasets have the potential to deliver a more comprehensive distribution of coltan mineralisation at Issia along with its resource potential.
Karl Akueson, CEO of Switch Metals commented:
“We remain encouraged by the progress at Issia and the wider resource potential across the project. The work completed has significantly increased our understanding of the shallow tantalum mineralisation, with preliminary on-site XRF screening indicating coltan mineralisation across approximately 54% of the area tested, which itself only covers 2% of the total licence area.
“Our priority is to deliver a robust maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, properly categorised and capable of underpinning the next stage of Issia’s development. Importantly, we are looking at Issia as a whole, with the wider shallow tantalum targets and our hard-rock exploration programme at Zraty and Kabore providing significant additional potential across the project.
“We are also assessing the potential to bring these expanded datasets together into an updated Exploration Target and broader resource model, providing a more comprehensive picture of the scale and potential of Issia than originally envisaged at the outset of the programme.”
Figure 1: Coltan mineralisation envelope within MRE-1 target
