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(Sharecast News) - Switch Metals said on Thursday that it had defined two high-priority hard-rock drill targets at its Issia project in Cte d'Ivoire ahead of a planned maiden drilling programme, while work on a maiden tantalum mineral resource estimate continues in parallel.
The AIM-traded critical metals company said the programme would test lithium and tantalum targets within Issia's district-scale pegmatite corridor, where previous work has demonstrated tantalum and lithium mineralisation.
The two targets are Kabore, a spodumene lithium-bearing pegmatite, and Zraty, a tantalum-bearing pegmatite.
Both are located within the 112 square kilometre Badinikro permit area.
At Kabore, follow-up soil sampling has outlined a 1.3 kilometre rubidium anomaly around the previously announced spodumene discovery.
The original discovery comprised a 20 metre by 10 metre exposure, with weathered grab samples returning grades of up to 2.56% lithium oxide.
Switch said rubidium was a recognised pathfinder element for lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite exploration, and that the scale and continuity of the anomaly had increased its confidence in the broader prospectivity of the target area.
At Zraty, previous trenching identified an east-north-east trending, sub-outcropping pegmatite measuring about 100 metres in length and five to 10 metres in width.
Grab and channel samples from the target previously returned grades of up to 1,230 parts per million tantalum pentoxide, making it one of the highest-grade hard-rock tantalum occurrences identified within the company's Issia licence portfolio.
Switch said drill planning was underway for about 2,500 metres of scout drilling across the two targets, comprising roughly 15 holes at Kabore and eight at Zraty.
Around 1,700 metres are planned at Kabore and 800 metres at Zraty, with holes expected to average 50 to 100 metres in depth and designed to test down-dip extensions of the known pegmatite outcrops.
Platform preparation is ongoing and rig mobilisation is expected shortly.
Chief executive Karl Akueson said the company was accelerating work on the two targets following its recent capital raise.
"Kabore has evolved significantly since the original spodumene discovery, with follow-up soil sampling now outlining a 1.3 km anomaly around the mineralised outcrop," Akueson said.
"Given the improvement in the lithium market and the scale of the anomaly defined at Kabore, we believe this is the right time to drill test Kabore and assess the system at depth."
He said the programme would also test Zraty, highlighting the broader prospectivity of Issia beyond the shallow placer and eluvial resources being incorporated into the maiden tantalum MRE.
Switch also said it had issued 94,118 new ordinary shares to a consultant in settlement of 8,000 of fees for services provided over the past 12 months.
The shares were issued at 8.5p each, with admission to AIM expected on or around 9 June.
At 1029 BST, shares in Switch Metals were down 2.67% at 12.17p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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