On the heels of JORC upgrade, ABR ramps things up at Fort Cady

Published on: Feb 20, 2018 | by finfeed

American Pacific Borate and Lithium (ASX:ABR) has today updated the market on its progress advancing its 100 per cent owned Fort Cady Borate and Lithium Project in Southern California, USA.

Recently, ABR delivered a significantly upgraded JORC Mineral Resource Estimate for Fort Cady, increasing both tons and grade. The project resides in a highly prospective area for borate and lithium mineralisation. It is a highly rare and large colemanite deposit, with substantial lithium potential and is the largest known contained borate occurrence in the world not owned by the two major borate producers Rio Tinto and Eti Maden.

Overall, progress so far has been excellent, with ABR moving rapidly to advance onsite pilot plant testworks, enabling completion of its boric acid definitive feasibility study (DFS).

This puts ABR on track to complete the DFS early in the second half of the year. As part of the drilling program, one of the boreholes was converted into a test well for the purpose of reconfirming the in-situ mining ability of the ore body, noting 17 wells were created and extracted from in-pilot plant operations in the 1990s and 2000s.

Importantly, infrastructure within the pilot plant area is being added and upgraded to ensure the safety of all personnel assisting with the project. These upgrades will be beneficial to the construction of the initial commercial-scale operations.

Lithium testworks are also progressing well, with the third stage having been completed.

Because of its ability to quickly define a JORC-compliant Resource and completion of the initial scoping study, both of which were released in the fourth quarter of 2017, ABR has engaged potential strategic partners. The discussions relate to plans to optimise delivery of detailed engineering, plant and construction finance, debt and equity financing, product development, and, ultimately, offtake of its boric acid.

These initial discussions are progressing positively, and have increased ABR's confidence in the strong demand for boric acid.

Of course, as with all minerals exploration, success is not guaranteed - consider your own personal circumstances before investing, and seek professional financial advice.

In further pleasing news, ABR has also employed a new environmental manager, Cindi Byrns, and expects to soon appoint two additional engineers based in Apple Valley in anticipation of upcoming works.