Ireland:veins too thin to mine; grades don't redeem it.today's news release seems to be the 1st publication of true widths, and it's sobering.
The greatest reported true thickness was 0.48m, the average was around 20-30 cm.
The grades would need to be hugely rich (like i donno maybe 4-5% LiO2?) to make chasing such thin veins worthwhile.
If the pegmatite veins were like 70% spodumene that'd be possible, but I haven't seen grades like that from anything on the planet, and photos of core, boulder and outcrop I've seen from various projects on four continents don't seem to be more than ~40-50% spodumene at best.
DYOD,
and best wishes for the holiday season, as we all hope our stock holdings blossom next year!