Rock Tech Lithium unveils 6.72 mln tonne maiden NI 43-101 resource at Georgia Lake

Rock Tech Lithium (CVE:RCK) Wednesday announced an NI 43-101 complaint total indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate of 6.72 million tonnes grading 1.11 percent lithium oxide for its 100 percent-owned Georgia Lake project in Ontario.

In the indicated category, the resource holds 2.36 million tonnes at 1.17% lithium oxide and in the inferred category, the estimate was for 4.36 tonnes at 1.08% lithium oxide, Rock Tech said.

The resource report, based on the spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes located on the Nama Creek and Conway claim blocks, has resulted in increases in both the tonnage and grade over historic estimates by 21 percent and 8 percent, respectively, the company added.

Rock Tech Lithium president and CEO, Eunho Lee, said: "The results of the initial NI 43-101 resource estimate bolsters our confidence in the historical exploration data. We are encouraged that the compliant resource is more than 20 percent larger than the historic resource.

"Our strategy now shifts towards expanding the resource at Georgia Lake, more specifically the Nama Creek claim block, and, beyond that, confirming the balance of the historic resource and completing a preliminary economic assessment.

"To that end, we have developed an exploration program, including both step-out and confirmatory drill holes, that we will begin executing in the fourth quarter of 2011."

The company has already reported very high purity levels from the property already this year. In late September, Rock Tech achieved a purity level of 99.988% lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) from a bulk sample. Battery manufacturers require a purity level of at least 99.5% Li2CO3.

Rock Tech's Lee said that Georgia Lake's high quality and purity lithium resource "should start drawing interest from battery manufacturers", especially among those who are concerned about supply surety of lithium carbonate.

Besides the battery industry, lithium has many uses, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics, casting for HVAC products, additives for greases and oil products, aluminum production, and as a pharmaceutical mood stabilizer.

Caracle Creek International compiled the NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate using 97 historical drill holes, in addition to 39 drill holes from the company’s 2009 and 2011 drill programs.

The historic resource on the Nama Creek and parts of the Conway claim blocks that were subject to the drill program completed in early 2011 contained 5.54 million tonnes, grading 1.03 percent lithium oxide of the total 9.78 million tonnes grading 1.18 percent lithium oxide.

The NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate on the same area contains 6.72 million tonnes grading 1.11 percent lithium oxide. The deposits remain open in all directions and at depth, and are currently being further explored.

Wednesday's resource estimate concentrated on the Nama Creek claim block with some drilling from the Conway block.

Speaking to Proactive Investors, Rock Tech's Lee said that the Conway claim block had an initial NI43-101 resource of 1,146,000 tonnes compared to a historic resource of 1,830,000 tonnes but expects an updated NI43-101 resource for Conway to be larger than the reported historic resource.

Rock Tech Lithium has already started Phase Two of its exploration program. The goal is to expand the resource by conducting step-out drilling on the Nama Creek claim block in addition to drilling confirmatory holes on strike extensions on known pegmatitie dykes on the property.

The company said a total of 10,000 metres of diamond core drilling will be performed during the program, which may also include holes to a depth of 600 metres. A drill contract for the first 4,000 metres has already been awarded to Cobra Drilling.

Lee said that at the conclusion of phases two and three of its drilling program "...we are targeting to have a NI 43-101 resource that is substantially higher than our initial NI 43-101 resource."

He also said that Phase Three of the company's drill program, planned for the first or second quarter of 2012, would likely focus on bringing all of the historic resources to NI43-101 standards.

The Georgia Lake lithium property, located some 145 kilometers northeast of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, consists of four claim blocks covering 11,481 hectares.