I have done a quick review of the upgraded resource figures.
They have now used the 8 holes for sure, as the area covered (i.e. sediment volume/brine volume) is 50% bigger now.
Below is the original MRE:
Below is the upgraded MRE (I combined indicated and inferred into 1 table below for comparison purposes):
The quick conclusions are:
1) the new MRE covers 50% more volume
2) The total LCE tonnes remains the same for the simple reason the Specific Yield was reduced for the Deep Sand (Unit C and D) from 11.5% down to ~6%
3) Also the Specific Yield for the Upper aquifer (Unit A) was reduced from 13% to 10%.
I think this is conservative taken to the nth power. Fair enough, as the increased covered area might not be high yielding, but given the samples have been tested and announced, with some figures in the 15-18% for upper and 11-15% for deep sand, using these new factors are
very very conservative.
Maintaining the yields of the original MRE, the resource would be in the
5M tonnes LCE order. And if we were to applied Galan's tactics, i.e. simply assuming 23% yield for deep sand without any actual tests, resource would almost be
8M tonnes LCE.
I'm satisfied with numbers announced, given that the deeper the brine is, the more compact the sandstone is and hence yield decreases, but I would say future drilling/infill/etc will reaffirm above figures and increase resource due to principally yield adjustment and to some extent Li concentration, which again, I believe that very conservative figures have been used from looking at above numbers and those ones showed in hole tests.
FINAL CONCLUSION:
This is a Tier-1 resource. This can feed a 20 ktpa operation at ease, even just from the upper aquifer only (1.4M tn @245 mg/L Lithium) like the recent Arena Minerals, Alpha Lithium, etc also sold for US$200M. If you then take into account the resource from deeper aquifer, with high grades which can feed an Evaporation Pond system (proven tech, for 10 or 20 or 40 ktpa), sky's the limit for LEL to either sell and/or associate with a wealthy partner to become a profitable company.
(20min delay)