The Romano pegmatite at Sepeda has an inferred resource of 10.3 million tonnes at 1% lithium oxide and 0.05% tin.

The Romano pegmatite was discovered by Dakota last year, and is the second discovery for the company.

The other, the high-grade Lynas Find lithium deposit in the Pilbara, was sold to Pilbara Minerals for $A8 million.

Dakota CEO David Frances said the company’s second resource within a year was a major milestone for the company.

“Interim metallurgical testwork results also indicate a low-iron concentrate potentially suitable for the technical market, and we expect to produce battery grade lithium carbonate from conventional metallurgical techniques by April-May,” he said.

“The mineral resource will now form the basis for the outputs of the scoping study and environmental impact assessment.”

Drilling has already resumed, with a resource update targeted by the September quarter, with the current resource already capable of supporting a 10-year mine life.

Dakota is well-funded with nearly $18 million cash at the end of December. Its market capitalisation is a little over $22 million.

Shares in Dakota dropped by 7.5% to 6.1c.