Transcription of The Stock Network Interview with Venari Minerals (ASX:VMS), Executive Director and CEO Matt Healy
Lel Smits: Venari Minerals has delivered what it describes as exceptional wide and high-grade lithium drill results from the northern area of its wholly-owned Red Mountain Lithium Project in Nevada in the USA. These results represent the highest-grade lithium result recorded at the project to date and significantly strengthening the high-grade core of the deposit. With assays from three additional holes still pending, and a maiden mineral resource estimate now targeted for the first quarter of next year, I’m joined by Executive Director and CEO Matt Healy to discuss the significance of these results and what comes next as Red Mountain continues to scale.
Welcome back to the Stock Network, Matt.
Matt Healy: Thanks, Lel. Good to be talking to you again.
Lel Smits: Now, Hole RMRC013 has delivered the highest-grade lithium intercept seen so far at Red Mountain. How is this significant, really, in terms of the result for the northern area? Also, what does it tell you about the scale and quality of the project?
Matt Healy: Yeah, look, a fantastic result, this one, Lel. We actually drilled a high-grade diamond hole in this area earlier in the year with RMDD3, and we had a spectacular result.
Now, this hole drills down-dip of RMDD3, and so to replicate that sort of intersection, in fact, perhaps even get a better one, it’s really firmed up that there is that really high-grade core to the northern part of the deposit. Look, that’s really important because we expect, as we progress the project forward, that high-grade core will form the basis for establishing basically a mining inventory and working towards scoping study and getting financials out for this thing.
Lel Smits: Excellent. Now, this hole has extended mineralisation to 150m depth and builds on several nearby high-grade intercepts in the northern area. How does this strengthen your confidence in defining a robust high-grade core as you move towards the main mineral resource estimate now planned for the first quarter of next year?
Matt Healy: Yeah, it certainly increased our confidence because we’ve now had high-grade mineralisation in a number of holes, but I will say this. The nearest drilled section to the north is 400m away.
We’re still waiting on assay results for two holes on that cross-section, but the nearest section to the south of this high-grade intersection is 600m away. So, you’ve got a full kilometre there that we clearly need to do some more drilling in future to further define the extents of this high-grade zone. And there’s every possibility that we could actually get higher-grade intersections when we do that sort of infill drilling.
Lel Smits: That is great to hear. And being at the end of the year now, I look forward to the quarter ahead for Venari Minerals. Thank you for the update and looking forward to more in the new year.
Matt Healy: Yeah, thanks, Lel. Appreciate it.
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