Askari expands battery metals footprint in Namibia

Askari Metals has captured a battery metals-prospective permit via a corporate takeover to add to its growing flagship Uis lithium project that sits within Namibia’s Uis-Cape Cross pegmatite belt.

The 68.2km “EPL 7626” permit, which Askari gained through its full acquisition of Green Lithium, is along strike and juxtaposed next to Andrada Mining’s operating tin mine and Spodumene Hill discovery.

Andrada’s mine has an 81-million-tonne resource grading 0.73 per cent lithium oxide, 0.15 per cent tin and 86 parts per million tantalum. Spodumene Hill’s B1/C1 deposit, which is 5km along strike from Askari’s ground, returned a recent drill hit of 14.52m at 1.38 per cent lithium oxide, 0.131 per cent tin and 285 ppm tantalum from 15.48m.

The deal with Green Lithium will be sealed with the passing of 500,000 Askari shares to that company’s shareholders.

Askari Metals executive director Gino D'Anna said: “We are delighted to announce the completion of this strategic acquisition that expands our strategic exposure to the Uis-Cape Cross Pegmatite Belt in Namibia. Adding EPL 7626 to our portfolio, that we believe has significant exploration potential, will become an integral component to our flaghip Uis Lithium Project.”

Mr D’Anna also noted that assay results are imminent from rock chips and Askari’s earlier reverse-circulation (RC) drilling of 173 holes for 9907m, which focussed on pegmatites in two of the company’s south-western contiguous permits.

Once results are interpreted and integrated with historic datasets, they will have a material bearing on a future exploration program. It is expected to incorporate soil and stream sediment geochemical surveys, trenching and hyperspectral remote sensing to prioritise targets for drilling later this year.

The company’s latest tenement acquisition will soon be the focus of detailed field mapping and sampling.

To date, rock chip samples have returned solid assays of up to 3.32 per cent lithium oxide and earlier RC drill results have given up to 4m at 0.4 per cent lithium oxide, including a 2m section grading 0.56 per cent. Management says the encouraging values occur within the anomalous corridor that hosts Andrada’s flagship Uis mine.

The remarkable pegmatite belt contains more than 200 intrusives that have been emplaced by a mechanism of regional shearing of the host rock, resulting in exotic mineral assemblages that are dependent on the level of fractionation experienced by the pegmatite during crystallisation. Minerals that contain elevated levels of lithium, tin, tantalite and rare earths are high on the agenda for the Askari rockhounds.

While the company’s exploration team has a veritable smorgasbord of battery metals prospects to titillate their palates in the forthcoming Namibian program, the boardroom also continues to dine out on the prospect of further acquisitions to complement the feast.

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