Lithium Plus Minerals Expands Lei Resource and Development Base

Lithium Plus Minerals (ASX: LPM) has upgraded the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the primary pegmatite at its wholly owned Lei deposit in the Northern Territory to 5.22 million tonnes at 1.50% lithium oxide.

The estimated 78,420 tonnes of lithium oxide represents a 34% increase in contained lithium and a 28% rise in total tonnage from the December 2023 estimate.

Indicated material now accounts for 55% of the MRE, giving Lithium Plus a higher-confidence foundation for studies assessing a low-capex direct shipping ore (DSO) development.

A scoping study for the proposed DSO operation is expected early in the fourth quarter of 2026 as technical de-risking, mine planning and commercialisation work continues.

Resource Confidence Rises Sharply

The updated MRE comprises 2.85Mt at 1.49% lithium oxide in the Indicated category and 2.37Mt at 1.51% lithium oxide in the Inferred category, using a 0.5% cut-off grade.

Compared with the maiden estimate of 4.09Mt at 1.43% lithium oxide, Indicated contained lithium has increased more than sevenfold from 5,120t to 42,550t as material moved from the lower-confidence category.

Additional drilling reduced pierce-point spacing to about 50 metres across central parts of the orebody, improving definition of the pegmatite geometry, internal waste rafts, and grade continuity.

The revised model incorporates the mineralised core and surrounding low-grade pegmatite skin within one domain, reflecting the expected mining width and producing a more stable resource estimate.

Exploration Targets Add Upside

Lithium Plus has outlined combined Exploration Targets of 7.6Mt to 19.4Mt at grades ranging from 1.2% to 1.6% lithium oxide across the Lei primary, Lei secondary, and Perseverance pegmatites.

The Lei primary target covers a potential 0.8Mt to 3.2Mt extension below the current MRE, while the secondary pegmatite about 170m east carries a target of 3.2Mt to 6.5Mt.

Perseverance, located 12km north of Lei, has an Exploration Target of 3.6Mt to 9.7Mt at 1.2% to 1.6% lithium oxide based on 34 holes totalling 3,729.8m.

The steeply dipping, spodumene-bearing Lei pegmatite has been defined over a substantial vertical extent and remains open at depth, supporting continued assessment of underground mining methods.

Development Work Ongoing

Lithium Plus is evaluating a DSO pathway in which ore would be crushed and screened on site before transport to Darwin Port and downstream processing through strategic partner arrangements.

Previous ore-sorting work showed potential to raise lithium head grades and reject waste before transport and processing, while environmental studies, mining lease activities and regulatory work have progressed.

Future programs will focus on expanding the resource, testing the secondary and Perseverance targets, optimising mining and processing options, and refining project economics ahead of later development studies.

Executive chair Dr Bin Guo said the resource significantly de-risks and underpins the company’s ongoing development studies.

“We are aggressively advancing our strategy for a low-capex DSO operation, and this result puts us in a remarkably strong position to target near-term cash flow,” he added.