Moblan is being developed as a conventional open-pit operation,...

Moblan is being developed as a conventional open-pit operation, and these drill results are almost entirely targeting material that would be mined from a pit. Here’s why:

1. 2024 Pit Shell Context
   • Sayona’s 2024 Mineral Resource pit shell defines the ultimate pit footprint (in plan and depth) for open-pit mining.
   • All of the “In-pit conversion” intercepts you listed (e.g. 63.3 m @ 1.49 % Li₂O from 51.15 m; 48.8 m @ 1.59 % from 102.4 m; 60.65 m @ 1.87 % from 273.75 m, etc.) lie within that shell, so they’re squarely within the zone slated for open-pit extraction.

2. Depths Are Within Reasonable Pit Limits
   • Modern hard-rock pits frequently extend to 250–300 m vertical depth (and occasionally deeper if grades justify it).
   • Deepest highlighted intercept—82.8 m @ 1.35 % Li₂O from 277.3 m (SYN-24-0810)—sits right at the usual practical limit for a large open-pit (§), meaning it can be included by deepening the pit walls.
   • Shallower intercepts (e.g. 43–63 m thick at 100–130 m depth) are very comfortably in the “open-pit zone.”

3. “Outside Pit Shell” Intercepts Signal Expansion, Not Underground
   • The Main, South, Inter and Moleon area intercepts (all outside the 2024 shell) simply lie beyond the currently drawn pit limits.
   • Rather than indicating a switch to underground mining, they point to potential open-pit expansions—i.e. the pit walls would be pushed out (and possibly deepened) to capture these new, high-grade zones.

4. Geometry Favors Open-Pit
   • Sub-horizontal pegmatite dykes with true widths of 40–80 m are highly amenable to bench mining from a pit.
   • Continuity and thickness are exactly the characteristics you want in a surface/open-pit scenario: you can drill-and-blast large, uniform benches rather than high-cost, narrow underground stopes.

Bottom line:
Sayona’s Moblan deposit is being advanced as an open-pit mine. All in-pit intercepts validate and potentially deepen that pit, and the new “outside shell” results simply define areas for pit expansion—no underground development is required or planned at this stage.