White Cliff Minerals has bolstered its battery metals ambitions after completing the acquisition of explorer Abraxis Mining and its trinity of WA-based tenement applications in the Pilbara that are prospective for lithium.
According to the company, a subsequent review of remote satellite data has uncovered a network of pegmatite-rich target areas that will be further assessed through a maiden mapping and sampling program.
The company initially inked a binding agreement to acquire Abraxis a few weeks ago and immediately moved to procure satellite interpretation data of a pegmatite horde that sits inside the project’s tenement area and runs across adjacent regions.
The deal to pick up the three tenement applications, known collectively as the ‘Abraxis lithium project’, saw White Cliff shell out $40,000 in cash, $80,000 in White Cliff stock and a 1 per cent net smelter royalty.
Abraxis sits in a budding battery metals hub that also houses Riversgold’s Tambourah project and QX Resources’ Western Shaw lithium project.
Interestingly, Riversgold says the geological environment at Tambourah shares similarities to a brace of significant WA-based lithium projects; namely Pilbarra Minerals’ Pilgangoora venture and Mineral Resources’ Wodgina operation – two of the biggest in the state.
In 2013, rock chips grading up to 6410 parts per million lithium were found at Tambourah. However, despite the eye-watering results, Riversgold says the region saw little subsequent exploration apart from recent reconnaissance work that brought about the discovery of several pegmatite veins.
A a recent evaluation of QX Resources' Western Shaw project, also within spitting distance of the Abraxis lithium project, verified the area was governed by ‘nested granite plutons’, which are generally known to host lithium-rich pegmatite dykes.
Following the Abraxis reconnaissance program, White Cliff says it will look to send its technical team to the proximal Rat Hill lithium and rare earths project for a first pass site visit and sampling campaign.
The company has also secured a field crew to conduct a comprehensive soil sampling program at its Yinnetharra lithium and rare earths project in the Gascoyne region of WA and is working up a helicopter-assisted field excursion at its Diemals lithium and rare earths project near Southern Cross in WA.
After completing the acquisition of two distinct projects and the purchase of two junior explorers late last year, White Cliff plunged headfirst into the battery metal ssector. The move saw it pick up a portfolio of around 10 lithium and rare earths assets that span around 4000 square kilometres.
The company has shown no signs of flattening its battery metals desires since then, steadily working up its arsenal of new energy projects and offloading its non-core assets.
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