A deep dive into an historical dataset coupled with boots on ground has lit up a 10km lithium trend at GreenTech Metals’ West Pilbara projects that sit tantalisingly close to Azure Minerals’ Andover lithium discovery.
It is a fact that not all pegmatites outcrop continuously at the surface. Following on, not all pegmatites are rich in lithium, either.
But savvy geologists have a plethora of tools in their toolbelt to aid in the discovery of the effusive intrusions, including rigorous field mapping, geophysical surveys, historical mapping and legacy databases to establish the definitive interpretations of their extent, size, continuity, structure and relationships.
In line with that, GreenTech says a review of its historical soil geochemical database has helped etch out a pair of lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite trends – the Northern and Southern pegmatite trends – that stretch up to 7.5km and 2.5km in strike length, respectively.
Additionally, a recent reconnaissance field mapping program traversed the ground, confirming the presence of significant pegmatite swarms in the Northern and Southern trends. A suite of rock-chip samples collected along the way are now at the laboratory awaiting analysis.
The Northern LCT pegmatite trend, which includes GreenTech’s initial Kobe discovery, lies within the company’s wholly-owned Ruth Well tenure and extends eastward into the Osborne joint venture (JV) it shares with Artemis Resources. Recent rock-chip sampling returned a suite of high-grade assay results peaking at 1.8 per cent lithium oxide.
Close by, the Southern LCT pegmatite trend is housed within the Osborne JV tenure and has been mapped over a strike length of 2.5km. A duo of high-grade rock-chip samples tipping the scales at 2.3 per cent and 3.63 per cent lithium oxide were returned in late July, piquing early market interest.
Interestingly, Azure revealed its groundbreaking 209m high-grade lithium hit averaging 1.42 per cent lithium oxide at its Andover lithium discovery just a week later, sending its share price on a rapid run from $1.83 to hit a high of $2.86. In a classic case of being in the right place at the right time and with a few early runs on the board, Azure’s impressive haul spurred GreenTech’s own holding up nearly 40 per cent to a high of 50 cents from 35c.
GreenTech Metals executive director Thomas Reddicliffe said: “Our technical team is continuing to systematically unlock the potential of our West Pilbara lithium footprint. This latest work has confirmed the Northern and Southern LCT pegmatite trends, whilst also demonstrating the strong likelihood for additional discoveries to be hosted within the respective project area.”
Armed with knowledge garnered from its latest discoveries, the company is pushing on with ground mapping within the broader Ruth Well and Osborne project area and is also delving further into the historical dataset, with a view to potentially identifying new lithium pegmatite trends and extending the known trends.
The West Pilbara region is heating up as Western Australia’s latest lithium hotspot following Azure’s impressive Andover discovery and the stream of intriguing news flowing from Raiden Resources' adjoining Roeburne project. With plenty of smoke on its own tenure in the same West Pilbara neighbourhood, time will tell if GreenTech can flare the flames on its own lithium discovery.
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By Helen Barling
