Ardiden Ltd: Drilling Hits More Thick Spodumene-Bearing Pegmatite Zones

Perth - Diversified minerals explorer and developer Ardiden Ltd. (ASX:ADV) is pleased to advise that it continues to make good progress with the ongoing Phase 2 resource delineation diamond drilling program at its Seymour Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada, with the latest drill-holes intersecting multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatites.

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Phase 2 resource drilling program at the majority owned Seymour Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada continues to make steady progress with a further four diamond drill-holes now completed.

- Multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatites intersected in latest holes, including thick mineralised zones with a combined down-hole width of up to 19.6m (SL-17-43).

- Drilling continues to confirm the interpreted mineralised extensions and the presence of multiple pegmatite zones extending north-eastwards at the North Aubry prospect - with the mineralisation remaining open to the north, east, west and down-dip.

- Drilling is providing a greater level of geological understanding and confidence, while also steadily increasing the overall scale of the project and allowing the Company to continue to work towards meeting the conditions of the recently executed Yantai Term Sheet.

- To meet Yantai Term Sheet requirements, phase 2 results to underpin an initial maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource, which the Company is aiming to deliver during September 2017.

NORTH AUBRY PROSPECT DRILLING

A further four drill-holes (SL-17-41, SL-17-42, SL-17-43 and SL-17-44) have now been completed and logged by the geological team. This batch of drill holes has again intersected multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatites over various widths, confirming the presence of multiple pegmatite layers at various depths, including:

- Hole SL-17-43, which intersected a total of 19.62m of spodumene-bearing sills over a total down-hole width of 125m (including a 13.57m zone from 55m down-hole);

- Hole SL-17-41, which intersected a total of 17.83 zone of spodumene-bearing sills (including 8.32m from 53.53m down hole) over a total down-hole width of approximately 126m; and

- Hole SL-17-44, which intersected a continuous 16.25m zone of spodumene-bearing sills (from 62.15m down hole) over a total down-hole width of approximately 126m (refer to Table 1 in the link below).

The latest drilling has continued to validate the northern extension of the known primary mineralised zones, further expanding the boundaries of the main outcropping area and extensions of the secondary spodumene-bearing pegmatites at the project. Once the drill core has been logged, cut and prepared, the drill samples will be sent to Activation Laboratories in Thunder Bay for assay.

Ardiden notes that although the pegmatites at Seymour Lake can be somewhat difficult to model and predict due to the variable fluid pathways, confirmation of the interpreted extensions of the spodumene-bearing pegmatites and the verification of multiple pegmatite layers in the latest drilling provides the Company with a greater level of understanding and confidence in the project, while also steadily expanding the overall scale of the project and its future resource potential.

These drill holes have continued to verify the northern extension of the multiple pegmatite mineralised sills. The continued intersection of multiple high quality spodumene-bearing pegmatite reinforces the potential to establish a maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource estimate for the Seymour Lake Project.

As previously advised, the first portion of the current drilling program was designed with close-spaced drilling to ensure a high level of confidence in the data to support an initial maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource.

As soon as an appropriate number of drill results and geological data have been obtained during this drill program to allow increased confidence in the continuity of the multiple spodumene-bearing mineralisation zones contained in the central portion of the North Aubry prospect, the Company will begin work on a maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource estimate for Seymour Lake.

Once the basis for a maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource has been established in the central mineralised zone at North Aubry, Ardiden will conduct wider-spaced drilling in order to confirm extensions of the spodumene mineralised zones which can be incorporated in future resource estimates.

As previously advised, the current diamond drilling program is designed to target the immediate project area around the North Aubry prospect, which is located within an extensive 5km long pegmatite zone identified during the mapping and sampling campaign completed in 2016.

JORC 2012 MINERAL RESOURCE

Based on recent execution of the Term Sheet with Yantai Jinyuan Mining Machinery Co., Ltd ("Yantai") to design, build, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement for a proposed Lithium Concentrate Processing Facility at Seymour Lake, and the execution of the MOU with Whitesand, the recent drilling provides Ardiden with confidence that it will be in a position to achieve the conditions of the Term Sheet and progress the development of the Seymour Lake Project.

The drilling has continued to expand the lithium mineralisation zones in multiple directions and the mineralisation remains open to the north, east, west and down-dip. In order to meet some of the conditions from the Yantai Term Sheet, Ardiden will seek to capture sufficient drill and assay data over to the next few weeks with the aim of defining an initial maiden JORC 2012 Lithium Mineral Resource by the end of September 2017.

The current drilling program will also be expanded in due course at the North Aubry prospect to include the Central and South Aubry prospects, with the aim of increasing the overall mineral resource potential at Seymour Lake and adding to the long-term development potential of the project.

The identification of pegmatites either at, or close to surface represents a strategic advantage for the project, potentially allowing easier access to high-quality mineralisation in a future mining scenario. The proximity of the pegmatites to surface is likely to reduce the required pre-strip.

Ardiden confirms that the drill logs contained in this announcement refer to the identification and distribution of visible spodumene crystals of various sizes and colours contained within drill core samples. Ardiden notes that the estimated distribution of visible spodumene crystals in the drill core is not an accurate reflection of potential lithium grade and this will be determined with additional laboratory analysis.

The Company also notes that it has reported various widths of the highly evolved spodumene-bearing pegmatites. The North Aubry pegmatites are classified as highly evolved, complex type, spodumene-subtype, lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites. These pegmatites generally form under high-pressure-low-temperature conditions, display complex internal zoning, have relatively low Nb/Ta ratios in the ore-forming assemblages, and contain significantly elevated tantalum values.

The North Aubry prospect contains multiple layers of highly evolved complex pegmatites and, as such, a number of the diamond drill-holes have been reported with a down-hole aggregate of visible spodumene- bearing pegmatites. However, the lack of spodumene crystals being externally visible in the drill core is not an accurate reflection of the potential spodumene crystal content within the drill core or the potential lithium grade of the sample, which will be determined with additional laboratory analysis.

Ardiden looks forward to receiving additional drilling results, which should provide the Company with sufficient data to generate cross-sections and assist in the overall structural understanding of the North Aubry prospect.

Ardiden looks forward to providing further updates as they come to hand.

To view tables and figures, please visit:
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About Ardiden Ltd:

Ardiden Ltd. (ASX:ADV) is an emerging international strategic metals company which is focused on the exploration, evaluation and development of two 100 per cent owned projects located in the established mining jurisdiction of Ontario, Canada.



Contact:

Investors: Brad Boyle
Ardiden Ltd.
Tel: +61-8-6555-2950

Media: Nicholas Read
Read Corporate
Mobile: +61-419-929-046