Core Lithium Ltd. continued to make good exploration progress at the Finniss Lithium Project. Encouraging assay results have been received from the drilling of near mine lithium targets. At the beginning of the 2022 dry season, Core committed to undertaking a large program of RC and diamond drilling, with up to 4 drill rigs on site.

Drilling has focussed on testing along strike and below existing deposits, as well as testing new targets. Drilling is still in progress, and diamond drilling will continue during the wet season at suitable locations. Far West is defined by a number of interconnected spodumene bearing pegmatite bodies.

New RC drilling has discovered excellent grades and improved pegmatite continuity on the Far West pegmatite trend. The Hang Gong deposit consists of a series of stacked shallow NE to E dipping pegmatite sheets that are typically 4-10m in true width. At Hang Gong, Core has established a Mineral Resource of 2.54Mt @ 1.19% Li2O.

New drilling has enabled better definition of these lenses, as well as extending them northward towards the Hills prospect. The pegmatite at Bilatos is a very large body, at least 760 m in strike length, dipping steeply to the east, and still open to the south. New RC drilling has discovered excellent grades and improved pegmatite continuity on the Far West pegmatite trend (Figure 1).

Highlights of the current campaign include: 8m @ 1.56% Li2O in FRC299 (Far West North) from 137m. 12m @ 1.66% Li2O in FRC300 (Far West Central) from 124m. The depth extent of these mineralised bodies has not yet been determined, and with multiple bodies present over a strike length of at least 750m, there remains considerable potential along this trend.

Testing of a separate southern continuation of this trend (FRC303-306) showed this zone to be barren, although many of the pegmatite intercepts were not in fresh rock. Core's previous drilling at Hang Gong has established a Mineral Resource of 2.54Mt @ 1.19% Li2O, with spodumene mineralisation hosted within a series of stacked shallow NE-dipping lenses. New drilling has enabled better definition of these lenses, as well as extending them northward towards the Hills prospect.

Highlights from the new drilling include: 11m @ 1.36% Li2O in FRC345 (from 179m). 7m @ 1.86 Li2O in FRC346 (from 157m). 10m @ 1.35% Li2O in FRC351 (from 182m).

A substantial RC and diamond program has been completed at Bilatos, where previous results from initial testing in 2021 were very encouraging following the purchase of MLN813. The pegmatite at Bilatos is a very large body, at least 760 m in strike length, dipping steeply to the east, and still open to the south. Significant new results include: 8m @ 2.01% Li2O in SRC087 (from 50m).

61m @ 0.87% Li2O in SRC094 (from 48m), Incl 8m @ 1.57% Li2O (from 83m). 13m @ 1.12 Li2O (from 43m) and 20m @ 1.24 Li2O (from 63m) in SRC095. 7m @ 1.10 Li2O in SRC092 (from 86m).

Interestingly, mineralisation is observed in the oxide zone at Bilatos, which is different to other known bodies in the region, where lithium is typically leached out. The more complex mineralogy at Bilatos contains identified lithium bearing phases such as spodumene, lepidolite and amblygonite. The Bilatos prospect will require further detailed investigation to establish the zonation and relationships between the different lithium bearing species.

A number of smaller pegmatite bodies in the vicinity of Grants and Carlton were tested with scout RC drilling, including Kettle, Mid West, Black Jack, Rubicks and Arltunga. Although there were good intersections of pegmatite at many of these, lithium results were generally poor. Details for this drilling.

Drilling is ongoing, with RC and diamond rigs working on extending existing mineral resources at Carlton, Ah Hoy, Sandras and Centurion, with further exploration at a number of greenfield prospects. Importantly, sites are being prepared to allow for diamond drilling to continue during part of the wet season.