ASX-listed Javelin Minerals has commenced air-core drilling at its Husky project near Fifield in New South Wales where the company is on the hunt for rare earths in addition to precious and battery metals.
The explorer has received the necessary approvals to complete up to 23 drill holes at the site that is considered prospective for gold and platinum group elements.
The western area of the Husky project sits south of the Tresylva Complex that has an historical association with copper and cobalt. The project’s exploration licence also covers two strategic blocks within the Flemington and Owendale Intrusive Complexes that host mantle‐derived platinum mineralisation and are now also considered highly prospective for rare earths, precious and battery metals.
Previous mapping by the Geological Survey of New South Wales over the eastern tenement at Husky shows the apparent continuation of the Owendale Intrusion in the southern portion of the company’s tenement. Javelin says this same ultramafic hosts the significant primary platinum-copper mineralisation discovered by Helix Resources in the late 1990s.
The southern portion of the Husky’s eastern block is also located close to the historic Burra tin field that has hosted significant tin‐gold‐platinum mining nearby.
The air-core drilling programme is expected to take two to three weeks to complete whilst assays are expected to take a further six weeks from completion of the drilling campaign.
Javelin is also expected to begin drilling this year at its Mt Ida-Ida Valley project 60km west of Leonora in WA with 48 priority targets already identified.
The Goldfields project hosts a total of 18 exploration licenses and applications covering an expansive 2210 square kilometres where the explorer is searching for lithium and rare earths.
Javelin says it has observed numerous pegmatite outcrops across three of its tenements that warrant further follow up. One of the tenements is contiguous with ASX-listed Red Dirt Metals’ Mt Ida lithium project where a high-grade lithium discovery was made in late 2021.
Last year St George Mining reported rock chips going as high as 2.7 per cent lithium oxide at its Mt Alexander project, just 17km west of one of Javelin’s newly identified pegmatite-bearing tenements.
Javelin released an updated mineral resource estimate at its Coogee gold project near Kalgoorlie back in August showing a 1400 per cent increase in tonnage and a 350 per cent rise in contained metal. The mineral resource estimate at the project is now 1.42 million tonnes at 1.07 grams per tonne gold for a total of 49,000 ounces.
The company is also chasing copper, lead, silver and zinc at its Bonaparte project where it holds 675 square kilometres in the Kimberley region of WA.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
