You can take a look at the last annual report to get started on researching this http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20170131/pdf/43fmtjt9k3tdwr.pdf
Page 9 lists all the tenements that Galaxy has in the Mt Cattlin area.
Of these, the adjoining Floater is now being drilled.
Floater is closer, but Baker's Hill seems to be the one identified as having some really good intersections but, as its located 20km from the plant, then it may well be kept for a later stage of development.
These are all tenements picked up by Iggy Tan around about 2009 and there is some detail on Baker's Hill in this 2009 announcement. http://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/60402/
"Previous work suggests that the pegmatites are zoned and contain lithium alteration and tantalum mineralisation. Individual pegmatite outcrops extend over 1km in strike length and 500m in width, with thicknesses varying from 10 to 20m."
Seems unlikely that the plant is in any danger of running out of supply any time soon, its just that some commentators overlook how many tenements that Galaxy actually own down there.
Current calculations are simply based on the actual tenement that Galaxy is exploiting at the moment - the Dowling Pit.
It is all a matter of balancing the needs of the plant with the most efficient timeline for their exploitation.
Anthony Tse has already offloaded some of the lesser tenements a couple of years ago to balance the books.
Unlike other lithium companies, Galaxy has not actually spent a great deal of time or money in the last couple of years on drilling. There have been more important things to focus on - actually running and improving the plant - and shipping product. There was already a lot of ore on the rom pad when the mine was started up back in Q4 2016 and an established pit to continue blasting.
A new drilling program started in May at Mt Cattlin and we'll get updates as that proceeds.
Last update was May 2017 when they started drilling the adjoining Floater tenement. http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20170517/pdf/43jb4ckxtz3mln.pdf
"Galaxy is targeting an increase of recoverable resource from 12Mt to 15Mt for Mt Cattlin by the end of Q3 2017."
Expect a new LOM to be published then. At a rough stab, if they find what they expect to find there, it would expand it from about 7.5 years to about 9.5 years.
(and perhaps they'll also even get around to updating the website, with the Mt Cattlin page already being quite out of date).
@Bikida has made the good point a few times that there are many established mining companies that pursue the same strategy. Some have operated for a generation with a LOM of 3 years.
The best strategy seems to be to get moving with the mine operation as fast as possible and use drilling to plan the most cost efficient exploitation of the deposit(s), rather than become fixated with drilling tenements like swiss cheese.
GXY Price at posting:
$1.94 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
