Strong lithium grades up to 2.35 per cent and an extension of the Spear Hill lithium pegmatites to over 4.3km strike length have convinced the owners of Pirra Lithium to spin the company out into an IPO by the end of this year.
Calidus Resources owns 50 per cent of Pirra Lithium, the joint venture that now controls tenements and lithium rights covering over 1000 square kms that were previously part of the Calidus and Haoma Mining portfolios.
Assays from a 30 rock-chip sampling campaign at Speak Hill gave lithium grades up to 2.35 per cent lithium oxide and 808 parts per million Tantalum. The rock chip samples came from a newly discovered pegmatite swarm located 1.7km south-west of the discovery outcrop. Pegmatites and areas of muscovite and lepidolite alteration were tested over 1.8km of strike length. In good news for the venture recent results have nearly doubled the known size of lithium mineralised zones.
Spear Hill is one of many pegmatites mapped in the area, with several associated with known tin-tantalum fields that are positive indicators of potential lithium enrichment. Spear Hill is approximately 50km south-west of Marble Bar in the Pilbara region of WA and forms part of the historic Shaw River tin field.
Calidus Resources Managing Director David Reeves said: “The expansion of the mineralised system at Spear Hill reinforces the substantial prospectivity across the large tenement package and rights owned by Pirra Lithium. As a result, the shareholders of Pirra Lithium have decided to commence a demerger process and IPO of Pirra Lithium later this year”.
The widths of lithium bearing pegmatites around Spear Hill are not yet known, although it is assumed to be considerably less than the 10-30m width exposed at surface due to the dip angle. The newly discovered pegmatites are intermittently exposed for approximately 1.8km and are reported as being gently dipping making accurate width estimates difficult. The scattered alteration indicates potential for additional pegmatites in areas of poor exposure. The company believe the main lithium bearing mineral is present in lepidolite and green muscovite.
Pirra Lithium is currently drilling in an area nearby and intend to commence exploration at nearby Spear Hill once approvals have been received. Field mapping and sampling is ongoing and existing data, including geophysics, is being reviewed to identify priority targets.
Given the area’s potential Pirra Lithium, including the Spear Hill lithium project, has been earmarked by the owners for demerging into a separate ASX listed entity by the end of 2022.
Calidus says the Pirra Lithium demerger will create a pure lithium focused company with better access to capital and other resources to fast track the evolving Spear Hill discovery and other prospects in the portfolio.
After the lithium spin-out Calidus will remain focused on its recently commissioned Warrawoona gold mine in the Pilbara. Production up to 105,000 ounces of gold per annum is forecast with the potential for an increase to 139,000 ounces when the nearby high-grade Blue Spec deposit is developed. Blue Spec contains 415,000 tonnes at 16.3 grams per tonne gold with a Definitive Feasibility Study due in the June quarter of 2022.
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By Matt Birney
