Switch Metals (AIM:SWT), the AIM-listed critical metals explorer focused on tantalum and lithium in Côte d'Ivoire, said preliminary on-site screening confirms coltan mineralisation across 54% of its first target area at the Issia Project.
The company has completed a systematic pitting programme on a 100m x 100m grid across the 2.5 square kilometre MRE-1 zone within its 112 square kilometre Badinikro permit, the area earmarked for a maiden tantalum Mineral Resource Estimate.
Screening found coltan grades above 4 grams per tonne in soils across the mineralised footprint, with the highest-grade zones, above 10 grams per tonne, overlaying known pegmatite outcrops, a result the company says validates its hard-rock exploration targeting.
A second pitting programme, MRE-2, has been completed across an additional 1.3 square kilometres, bringing the combined footprint to 3.8 square kilometres, with scope to extend across roughly 7 square kilometres of adjacent alluvial drainage basin targets.
Switch Metals now plans infill pitting at 50m x 50m and, in priority zones, 25m x 25m spacing to support a JORC-compliant resource classification, while priority samples undergo independent laboratory assay.
"We remain encouraged by the progress at Issia and the wider resource potential across the project," said chief executive Karl Akueson, noting the screened area represents just 2% of the total licence.
Results from RC drilling at the Kabore and Zraty pegmatites are expected in the near term.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Preliminary on-site screening confirms coltan mineralisation across 54% of the MRE-1 zone at Switch Metals' Issia Project in Côte d'Ivoire, with grades above 4 grams per tonne in soils and highest-grade zones above 10 grams per tonne overlaying pegmatite outcrops. The company is advancing toward a maiden JORC-compliant resource estimate through infill pitting and assay, with RC drilling results from Kabore and Zraty pegmatites expected in the near term—but remains at early-stage exploration with no resource defined and no path to production yet established.
The screening validates the exploration model and extends the mineralised footprint to 3.8 square kilometres, but this is a preliminary geochemical survey on 2% of the licence; conversion to a JORC resource and economic viability remain unproven. As a pre-revenue junior explorer, Switch Metals remains capital-dependent and subject to commodity price and permitting risk.
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