White Cliff onto WA lithium and rare earth quest

White Cliff Minerals has launched a first-pass lithium and rare earths exploration venture at its Yinnetharra project that sits some 100 kilometres northeast of the Gascoyne Junction in Western Australia. The helicopter-supported field trip is part of the company’s plan to aggressively advance its recently swelled battery metal portfolio that could grow to include almost a dozen projects.

The junior explorer says it will accelerate its exploration efforts at Yinnetharra in unison with work at its Reedy South gold project near Meekatharra.

The company only recently picked up its Yinnetharra ground as part of a Christmas shopping spree that saw it acquire a suite of highly prospective lithium and rare earth projects that are littered throughout WA.

The Yinnetharra project is comprised of a six-piece tenement application set that covers close to 580 square kilometres near Carnarvon. The ground is located in the Gascoyne lithium region and looks to be sitting on prime real-estate with the project some 85km south of Hastings Technology Metals’ tier-1 Yangibana rare earths project.

According to White Cliff, the Yinnetharra project will be held by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Electrification Metals.

White Cliff Minerals Technical Director, Edward Mead said:“We said we would get on the ground quickly, and I look forward to the helicopter supported field trip over the Yinnetharra project area, where we have identified initial target areas across the tenements, in this reconnaissance program. The program will also assist with logistics for follow-up exploration programs planned for early in the New Year.”

Historical exploration at the project unveiled a handful of lithium-bearing pegmatites at the nearby Thirty Three Supersuite - a massive northwest to southeast granite unit that runs along the Ti Tree shear zone that has been found to host a series of rare earth-bearing pegmatites at its basement.

The ground’s prospectivity has also underlined by a pair of sampling programs that have unveiled some notable results. ASX-listed Arrow Minerals previously revealed lithium oxide grades of up to 4 per cent in rockchip sampling at its Malinda lithium project some 10km northwest of Yinnetharra.

Similarly, a previous rock chip sampling program by the Geological Survey of Western Australia, or “GSWA” brought forward strong cerium hits as high as 332 parts per million. Interestingly, cerium is regarded by Geoscience Australia to be one of the most abundant rare earth elements.

Outside of its battery metal exploits, White Cliff is also looking to progress its Reedy South gold project about 40km north of Cue in WA’s Murchison Goldfields. Previous soil sampling at the project by the company yielded anomalous results including gold values up to 137 parts per billion after bagging up a few hundred soil samples around its Reedy South landholdings.

White Cliff previously tabled a maiden, inferred and indicated mineral resource statement for Reedy South that delivered a resource estimate of around 779,000 tonnes, going a respectable 1.7 grams per tonne for 42,400 ounces of contained gold.

With the company making good on its plan to aggressively advance the newly acquired battery metal ground, White Cliff could be gearing up for a flurry of activity in 2022.  With lithium prices on a steady march skyward and the gold market holding firm, White Cliff could be one to watch in the new year.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au