Battery metals player Metalicity Limited has unearthed two new lithium target exploration areas at its 100%-owned Pilgangoora North project, located 80km south-southeast of Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of W.A.
Recent field work, including reconnaissance geological mapping and rock chip sampling has identified several pegmatite swarms hosting anomalous lithium, niobium and tin mineralisation.
The southernmost PN2 target strikes over 3km and the northern-most PN3 target strikes over 5km within greenstones that are adjacent to a granite, believed to be the source of major lithium mineralisation in the region.
The new targets are only 9km along strike from the world class Pilgangoora group of high grade lithium deposits being developed by Pilbara Minerals and Altura Mining.
These deposits collectively hold 269.1 million tonnes grading around 1.3% lithium oxide and are significant new resources of hard rock pegmatites containing the sough-after commercial spodumene mineralisation.
Metalicity’s Managing Director Matt Gauci said: “The exploration program has confirmed the likely source granite for many of the pegmatites with rare-element geochemical signatures present within the Pilgangoora North tenements and has provided additional information which supports the two priority target areas (PN2 and PN3) in which to focus further exploration activity for lithium bearing pegmatites.”
The company believes that the nearby Motherin granite has all the right chemical ingredients to produce economic lithium mineralisation, as it has done in spades further south.
Metalicity will now go on a treasure hunt at Pilgangoora North to determine the critical zoning pattern around the source granite in order to find the corridor containing the key LCT pegmatite suite.
Exploration planning is in progress to follow-up these new target areas with additional field work, rock chip sampling and drill testing if warranted.
Metalicity acquired the Pilgangoora North tenements from Fortescue Metals Group, a shareholder in the company, after preliminary work identified a series of pegmatites over a 10km trend, hosted in greenstone sequences at the property.
These results follow on from some exciting work recently completed by Metalicity some 35km north of the tier-1 Greenbushes spodumene deposit, located in the South West region of W.A.
At that project, Metalicity are using very low level geochemical indices to determine LCT-style anomalies below the significant masking cover in the highly weathered rock sequences.
The company has hit the ground running with its battery metals projects since deciding to spin out its flagship Admiral Bay zinc deposit into a new TSX-V listing called Kimberley Mining earlier this year.
Metalicity has also recently commenced drilling at its prospective looking Yerrida cobalt project, just west of Wiluna in the northern Goldfields region of W.A.
With significant tenements for lithium potential dotted throughout the eastern Pilbara region and some exquisite nearology to some of the world’s largest lithium deposits, Metalicity is quite spoilt for choice in its quest to prove up value from its battery metal projects.
By Matt Birney
