ASX-listed explorer White Cliff Minerals has boosted its WA-focused battery-metals armoury after sealing a binding agreement to acquire explorer Abraxis Mining and its trio of adjacent tenement applications considered highly prospective for lithium in the Pilbara area.
The new ground spans 294 square kilometres and importantly borders two promising lithium projects.
The company’s followers appeared to give the move the thumbs up with shares in the company vaulting almost 30 per cent on intraday trading following the news.
White Cliff says every inch of its new tenure is considered prospective for lithium-bearing pegmatites; however, it remains largely underexplored.
The purchase price consists of $40,000 in cash, $80,000 in White Cliff stock, and a 1 per cent net smelter royalty.
According to the company, its Abraxis lithium project area sits about 15km east of Riversgold’s Tambourah project and QX Resources’ Western Shaw lithium projects.
Riversgold says the geological setting at Tambourah is quite similar to those of large lithium-caesium-tantalum complexes such as those at Pilgangoora and Wodgina – two major WA lithium projects.
According to Riversgold, previous exploration by Altura Mining at Tambourah in 2013 yielded rock chips with grades of up to 6410ppm Lithium. The company says despite the pulse-quickening results the region has yet to see additional exploration.
Riversgold subsequently conducted reconnaissance work and discovered numerous pegmatite veins along strike from the Altura sampling area.
According to QX Resources, a recent review of its Western Shaw project confirmed the area was controlled by “nested granite plutons”, that normally house lithium-rich pegmatite dykes.
Following the acquisition, the company says it is aiming to launch a remote satellite interpretation of the pegmatites both inside the tenement area and across neighbouring districts. The review will be followed by a boots-on-the-ground geological analysis and a sampling program to help White Cliff understand the terrain and determine exactly what it is working with at the project.
White Cliff jumped headfirst into the white-hot battery metal space late last year after completing the acquisition of two different projects and the purchase of two junior explorers. As a result, the business acquired a portfolio of roughly 10 lithium and rare earths assets, bringing its total landholdings to almost 4000 square kilometres at the time.
The company has been steadily progressing its assets in recent months, firing up a geochemical survey at its Hines Hill rare earths project and running a remote sensing program in addition to a data review to complement its ongoing exploration work.
Only a few weeks ago White Cliff also decided to offload a pair of non-core nickel-cobalt projects in Western Australia, reinforcing its strategy of focusing in on its wholly-owned battery metal projects.
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