Askari Metals has acquired another lithium project in WA’s highly prospective Pilbara region from private outfit Mining Equities for a total of $125,000 in cash and shares, bolstering its already brimming battery metals portfolio. In a busy period of activity, the explorer is also reviewing its Red Peak lithium project for rare earth elements potential and has wrapped up its maiden drilling campaign at the company’s Horry copper and gold project.
Askari now holds five lithium projects across Australia with the purchase of Mining Equities’ Talga East lithium project marking its third lithium-land grab in the Pilbara this year as the company positions itself to become an emerging battery metals explorer with high-quality assets. The latest purchase follows its recent acquisition of ASX-listed Raiden Resources’ Myrnas Hill lithium project in late August and its move in January to peg 1711 square kilometres of prospective ground, since coined the company’s Yarrie lithium project.
The newest addition to the portfolio is located less than 20km north of Global Lithium Resources’ Archer deposit that hosts a resource of 10.5 million tonnes at 1.0 per cent lithium oxide. Similarly, Myrnas Hill and Yarrie are located just 30km from Archer. Askari interprets its Myrnas Hill and Talga East projects to lie exclusively within a “Goldilocks zone” for lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites that envelopes the Pilbara’s major lithium deposits.
An initial exploration sweep of the freshly acquired project will include a comprehensive data review along with soil and rock sampling to define outcropping pegmatites that remain untested with no drilling completed to date.
Askari Metals Vice President of Exploration and Geology, Johan Lambrechts said: “Askari Metals identified the Talga East Lithium project as value-add to the district-scale opportunity of the Yarrie Lithium project and the recently acquired Myrnas Hill Lithium project. This portfolio of assets is known as the eastern Pilbara lithium portfolio and will be a major focus of exploration activities for the Company.”
On the border of WA’s Gascoyne and Mid West regions and about 520km to the south-west at the company’s Red Peak lithium project, Askari has revealed results of more than 720 parts per million total rare earth oxides. The company says the results are important as they come from samples collected from outcropping pegmatites and are not derived from the monazite sands and clay hosted regolith that hosts numerous deposits in the region. The company is lining up an extensive soil auger drill program for the project that will commence as soon as permitting allows.
In addition, 714km to the north-east of the company’s eastern Pilbara lithium portfolio, Askari has just wrapped up an inaugural drilling campaign at its Horry copper and gold project in WA’s Kimberley region where a total of 2096m were drilled across 29 RC drill holes. Askari anticipates receiving the assays within eight weeks and is especially keen on seeing the lab results as rock chip sampling from the area around turned up results including 8.5 per cent copper along with a handful of gold nuggets.
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