The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is surging higher today.
Shares in the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) lithium stock closed yesterday trading for 9.7 cents. In late morning trade on Thursday, shares are changing hands for 10.2 cents apiece, up 5.2%.
For some context, the All Ords is up 0.9% at this same time.
In a welcome turnaround, today's gains see the embattled Core Lithium stock up 20% since last Wednesday's close.
Here's what's spurring ASX investor interest today.
What's boosting the Core Lithium share price?
Investors are bidding up the Core Lithium share price after the miner announced it had commenced reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its 100% owned Shoobridge Project, located in the Northern Territory.
The Shoobridge drilling campaign is part of Core's FY 2025 exploration program.
Today's announcement comes on the heels of the miner's preliminary FY 2024 results, released yesterday.
Commenting on Core's exploration plans following on those results, CEO Paul Brown said:
Our strategic focus will be on making Finniss a more robust operation in the future, and exploration is a key enabler of this.
In FY 2025, we will be drill testing priority targets around Finniss, potentially adding meaningful life to future lithium mining operations. We will also be advancing earlier stage, low multi-commodity exploration activities.
Today, the All Ords lithium stock announced that it is the first company to explore and drill the "prospective, potentially spodumene-rich, pegmatite systems" at Shoobridge for lithium.
Core also considers the area prospective for gold, with a known gold anomalism extending over a strike length of 4.5 kilometres. Uranium and base metals have also been found in the area.
Commenting on the commencement of the drill program that's lifting the Core Lithium share price today, Brown said, "We are thrilled to start the first ever lithium drilling program at Shoobridge. This marks the start of an exciting FY25 exploration program for Core, and we look forward to delivering results that capture the value inherent in our tenement portfolio."
Brown added:
We will be disciplined in our approach to exploration and pursue opportunities for meaningful mineral discoveries or with the potential for a high return on investment.
While we are firmly focussed on positioning the Finniss Lithium Project for a future restart, we are excited by projects such as Shoobridge that both support this objective and provide complementary growth opportunities.
The company highlighted that "a significant portion" of its FY 2025 exploration budget will go towards advancing and testing lithium targets with the goal of identifying substantial deposits within trucking distance of its Finniss lithium processing plant.
Despite the past week's strong run, the Core Lithium share price remains down 89% over 12 months.
