First-pass shallow RC drilling at Venus Metals’ Youanmi lithium project in Western Australia’s Murchison region has unearthed pegmatite-hosted lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) mineralisation that the company says remains open at depth and along strike.
The Youanmi lithium project is nearly 500km north-east of Perth and about 20km south-west of the Youanmi gold mine.
Six RC holes for 366 metres were drilled at Beryl – one of four prospects at the Mandini North section of the Younami project – along an approximately 300m-long north-south traverse.
Lepidolite-bearing pegmatite with up to 2m at 0.33 per cent lithium oxide from 9m was intersected in one hole and Venus believes the results indicate a likely easterly-dipping LCT pegmatite, hosted in meta-gabbroic rocks, that trends north/north-west and which previously returned up to 2.44 per cent lithium oxide in rock chip samples.
The Manindi North LCT prospect sits in the Youanmi greenstone belt within the granite–greenstone contact zone that is considered prospective for pegmatite-hosted LCT mineralisation. Venus’ rock chip samples, plus promising assay results from 158 soil samples collected as part of a regional geochemical program, encouraged the company to launch its drill program.
Two RC holes were also drilled for 168 metres at the company’s Central prospect, to the south of Beryl, in a bid to test the interpreted down-dip extension of near-surface lithium-bearing pegmatite. The best intersections included 3m at 0.49 per cent lithium oxide from 1m, including 1m at 1.14 per cent lithium oxide from 2m, and 2m at 0.89 lithium oxide from 15m.
Venus says further RC drilling is planned at Beryl and the LCT pegmatite down-dip from historical intersections at the Manindi Central and Manindi North prospects and along strike.
Venus is a WA-based and focused diversified minerals explorer with a swag of projects across the State – from its Bridgestone Greenbushes nickel-lithium project east of Busselton to its Mangaroon North rare earths project north-east of Carnarvon.
Venus and joint venture partner Rox Resources are chasing a mineral resource upgrade at the Youanmi gold project following impressive results from resource development drilling. And last week, airborne magnetic and radiometric surveying at Mangaroon North also identified high-priority rare earths carbonatite rock targets.
That surveying identified eight ironstone-hosted rare earths targets stretching across a 10km strike and several carbonatite targets with anomalous potassium responses were identified along a 6km crustal structure.
Venus will also soon be looking for more good news from further airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys – this time on an exploration licence about 20km to the north of Hastings Technology Metals’ Yangibana deposit, north east of Carnarvon, that contains 21 million tonnes at 1.17 per cent rare earths.
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By Mark Irving
