WhiteRock confirms broad lithium grades across expanded Spodumene Mountain system

First assays confirm broad lithium mineralisation

WhiteRock Lithium Corp. (ASX:WLC) has converted encouraging visual observations into laboratory results at Spodumene Mountain, with the first 17 holes from its 2026 campaign returning multiple thick, high-grade lithium intersections. The standout result was 84.0 metres at 1.84% Li₂O from just 8.0 metres depth, while other holes delivered 40.9 metres at 2.16%, 38.6 metres at 2.29% and 37.9 metres at 2.47% Li₂O.

The results come from a completed 65-hole, 19,481-metre diamond drilling program at the prospect within WhiteRock’s 100%-owned Banana Lithium Project in Québec. Pegmatite was intersected in every hole drilled during the campaign, although assays for the remaining holes are still pending.

Drilling expands the Spodumene Mountain footprint

The company’s first extension drilling more than doubled the known strike length of the Spodumene Mountain pegmatite system, from approximately 650 metres to about 1.4 kilometres. That expansion had already been signalled by the first seven-hole drilling results, which identified spodumene-bearing pegmatite across the initial northeastern holes.

Assays now show that the extension is not simply a geological line on a map. In the northeastern zone, all eight holes reported at least one interval grading around 2% Li₂O or higher. Results included 40.0 metres at 1.90% Li₂O, 40.9 metres at 2.16%, 11.4 metres at 2.51% and 11.3 metres at 2.95%.

Stacked pegmatites emerge across central and southwest zones

The central zone continues to produce the broadest near-surface evidence. Hole BL26-044 returned three separate intersections: 51.0 metres at 2.24% Li₂O, 29.9 metres at 2.14% and 14.5 metres at 1.97%. WhiteRock said the results indicate multiple stacked pegmatite bodies, while hole BL26-041 demonstrated that a substantial mineralised interval begins close to surface.

The southwest zone presents a more variable picture, with broad lower-grade pegmatite containing narrower higher-grade domains. BL26-032 returned 34.4 metres at 1.36% Li₂O, including 11.7 metres at 2.29%, while BL26-046 recorded separate intervals of 11.2 metres at 2.15% and 10.8 metres at 2.29%. The company also points to two spodumene-bearing outcrops roughly 1.2 kilometres further southwest for future drill testing.

Resource estimate remains the next major test

WhiteRock is targeting a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for Spodumene Mountain in the first half of 2027, subject to receiving and validating the outstanding assays and completing its geological interpretation. The proposed estimate would cover Spodumene Mountain only; Isabella and Marine would remain covered by the project’s broader Exploration Target and require further investigation.

That distinction matters. The Banana project’s Exploration Target of 190 million to 275 million tonnes at 1.2% to 1.6% Li₂O is conceptual and is not a Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve. Nor are the reported intersections yet individual true widths: the company says they are downhole core lengths and that true widths have not been calculated on a hole-by-hole basis, although current geological interpretation suggests they may approximate true widths.

Further assays will determine continuity and scale

WhiteRock’s immediate task is less glamorous than drilling but more consequential for the resource case: processing the remaining core, validating laboratory data and integrating the results into its geological model. The prospect remains open along strike and down dip, leaving room for further expansion, but the next batches will need to show that the stronger grades and broad intervals are sufficiently continuous to support resource classification.