After collecting lithium-rich soil samples from Askari Metals’ Barrow Creek lithium project in the NT’s Arunta pegmatite province, the company has now found lithium in its samples of rocks protruding through the soils.
The revelation validates an extension of its interpreted zone of lithium mineralisation to a strike length of 3km.
The results highlight an elevated lithium anomalism associated with caesium and tin in addition to a suite of the coveted battery metal’s pathfinder elements.
Askari believes the identified combination of minerals confirms the presence of a potentially significant lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite formation.
A pegmatite is a rock that forms during the final stages in the cooling of a magma chamber and is distinguished by its abnormally large and coarse interlocking crystal structure.
The term pegmatite describes the rock’s physical structure rather than its mineral composition — which is known to vary and consequently their mining is inspired by an array of purposes.
The sampling program was completed in early May and included 347 soil samples in addition to 119 rock samples.
Among the rock samples, 732 parts per million lithium oxide was the highest reading identified with eight samples yielding greater than 388ppm.
Askari’s mineralised zone, defined by the encouraging soils and rock samples, remains open in all directions and the pegmatites are interpreted to extend outwards beneath the shallow veiling sediments.
The confirmation lines up new targets for the company’s future exploration activities.
Future work planned for the project includes RC drilling and potentially air core or rotary air blast drilling to test under the shallow cover material.
The company believes significant exploration potential exists outside the north-west portion of Askari’s holding where mineralisation has been delineated.
Results from the exploration campaign in the south-east area of the project are pending where extensive pegmatites have also been mapped and sampled.
Geoscience Australia says that WA has nearly all the nation’s lithium resources, with the remainder attributed to the NT.
The pegmatites of the Barrow Creek pegmatite field have yielded historical discoveries of tin, tantalum and tungsten, however before 2005, no exploration had considered the potential for lithium mineralisation.
The geological authority says that Australia’s lithium deposits are commonly associated with tin and especially tantalum, explaining the influx of activity in the area.
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By Matt Birney
