Askari Metals has kicked off a soil auger drilling and rock sampling program at the company’s freshly acquired Myrnas Hill lithium project in WA’s Pilbara region to define priority target areas for follow-up exploration. The campaign will collect more than 600 samples in areas of interest marked by a hyperspectral survey and Askari’s own geological target generation.
The hyperspectral survey identified several exploration targets that will be the focus of the ground-based exploration, however the soil sampling component of the program will cover almost the entire project area. Field reconnaissance will also be conducted in areas of interest identified through high-resolution satellite imagery. The company plans to test any targets generated with RC and air core drilling in future campaigns.
In Askari’s geological review the locations of a tantalum-rich historical working and previously identified site of gold mineralisation were found to correlate well within the company’s interpreted mineralisation model of the project.
Askari Metals Vice President of Exploration and Geology, Johan Lambrechts said: “This first phase of exploration at Myrnas Hill will enable the Company to define priority exploration targets for future work.”
“The Pilbara region in Western Australia hosts some of the world’s largest and highest grade hard-rock lithium projects and has developed a reputation for being the leading jurisdiction for hard-rock lithium exploration, development and production.”
In terms of lithium resources, the authoritative body Geoscience Australia says WA holds about 99 per cent of the national total with about half a per cent attributed to the NT. Interestingly, 95 per cent of WA’s lithium is found within five deposits and importantly, two of the juggernauts, Pilgangoora and Wodgina, are located within 60km and 90km of Askari’s fence lines, respectively.
In addition, 30km to the south-east is ASX-listed Global Lithium Resources’ Archer deposit containing 10.5 million tonnes at 1 per cent lithium oxide.
Myrnas Hill is about as prime as lithium real estate gets as the project is interpreted to exclusively lie within a “Goldilocks zone” for lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites that envelopes the Pilbara’s major lithium deposits. Its acquisition in August marked the second lithium land grab in the Pilbara this year for Askari and a month later was followed by the acquisition of the Talga East lithium project also in the Pilbara.
Also in October, the company moved to acquire another lithium project in Namibia, Africa. The advanced African project bears visible spodumene mineralisation on its surface with previous rock chip assays delivering high-grade results up to 3.1 per cent lithium oxide, 3.2 per cent tin, 452 parts per million tantalum and 3387ppm rubidium.
It does not appear to be a bad time to have a portfolio heavy on the battery metals side as today on the Shanghai Metals Market spot prices for battery grade lithium carbonate were observed at a record average price of US$78,101 per tonne.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
