Big Drill Hits: The best lithium and gold hits for the week ending 23 June

Welcome back to Weekly Big Drill Hits – A curated list of the most intriguing intersections made by ASX-listed explorers. This week, we take a closer look at some emerging lithium names and the latest 'bonanza' gold hit.

Lithium

Interval refers to core length from interval start and only the highest grade x thickness is shown (Date range 19-23 June)

There's been a little bit of a rotation or heightened focus on mid-tier lithium explorers and developers including Azure Minerals (ASX: AZS), Delta Lithium (ASX: DLI), Latin Resources (ASX: LRS) and Leo Lithium (ASX: LLL).

Last week, Azure Minerals' management said they expect to deliver more drill results, with more rigs to be mobilised to test high priority targets. The latest drill holes continue to deliver broad mineralisation at solid grades, all of which are over 1.0% Li20. The stock continues to stand tall after a 150% run this week.

Azure Minerals 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

Delta Lithium is another name that has a V-shaped price chart thanks to:

• Changing its name from Red Dirt to Delta Lithium (28 April)

• Securing a $46.4m investment from the $9bn Japanese conglomerate Idemitsu at an 8.0% premium to its last close (14 June)

• A steady flow of solid drill results

Delta's Mt Ida Lithium Project in WA has a Mineral Resource of 12.7Mt at grades of 1.2% or 148,000 tonnes of Li₂0. To add some perspective, Core Lithium's Finniss Project contains approximately 270,000 Li₂0.

Delta Lithium 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

Gold

Interval refers to core length from interval start and only the highest grade x thickness is shown (Date range 19-23 June)

Dateline Resources (ASX: DTR) reported the initial assay results from its first (of eight) diamond drill holes at the Colosseum Project in California, US. A few key highlights from the result include:

• The intercept includes a higher-grade section of 23.5m at 21.8 g/t

• The intercept is significantly higher than the project's current average Mineral Resource grade of 1.2 g/t at 813,000 ounces

• Results from the second drill hole are expected in 2-3 weeks

• The results of the drill program will contribute to an upcoming Mineral Resource upgrade

• In parallel, the company is planning to drill for rare earths. The Colosseum Project is located less than 10 km north of the Mountain Pass Rare Earths Mine

The past month has marked a major turnaround for Dateline shares, following the sale of its Gold Links Mine and Lucky Strike Processing plans for up to $12 million.

“For Dateline, the removal of all liabilities associated with the Gold Links and Lucky Strike ($17.75 million), coupled with new cash, allows us to move forward with a clear plan to accelerate exploration and development plans for the Colosseum Gold Project ... and the Rare Earths prospects on the Company’s property there," said Managing Director Stephen Baghdadi.

Dateline Resources 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)

Copper

Interval refers to core length from interval start and only the highest grade x thickness is shown (Date range 19-23 June)