Aruma Resources Limited (ASX: AAJ) has identified further high-grade lithium-rubidium intersections from its final batches of assays from its recently completed drilling programme at the Mt Deans Lithium-Rubidium Project near Norseman, in the lithium corridor of south-eastern Western Australia.
The company recently completed a second phase of drilling at Mt Deans, which comprised 21 reverse circulation holes for 1,409 metres, to depths of between 20 and 120 m.
The programme drilled multiple lepidolite-bearing pegmatite outcrops and resampled previous drilling intersections from Tantalum Australia Limited in 2002.
Assay results have now been returned for the remaining 19 holes in Aruma’s drilling program, plus results from an additional seven historic holes (which have been re-assayed) and have delivered further high-grade lithium-rubidium results.
The programme returned lithium-rubidium grades in excess of two per cent, with a total of 12 intersections with grades in excess of 1.5% lithium-rubidium, of varying widths. Also of note, is the high potassium values, of up to 3.6%, with significant cesium (up to 0.6%) and tin-tantalum (600ppm and 700ppm).
The drilling has confirmed and extended the lithium and high-grade rubidium intersected in multiple pegmatites in Aruma’s first phase of drilling in the central part of the project area, and a subsequent rock chip sampling programme
Broad spaced drilling and surface sampling in 2022 by Aruma identified a thick vertical sequence of lithium and high-grade rubidium bearing pegmatites over a strike length of about 1.5 kilometres at the Mt Deans Project,
All assays have now been received and validated from the company’s second phase of drilling. The remaining 19 holes from Aruma’s drilling and the seven historic holes which were re-assayed have all returned high grades above 1% combined Li2O and Rb2O in significant intervals, of 5 metres or more.
As previously reported hole MDRC0011cintersected a pegmatite of approximately five metres true width, with consistent high-grade (1.13%) Li2O. The composited interval for this pegmatite is 8m @ 1.89% Li2O+Rb2O.
Hole MDRC0009 intersected a contact zone of altered mafic host rock and pegmatitic material. This zone is interpreted to be a mineralised alteration zone (alteration zone) on the contact between intrusive pegmatites and the mafic country rock. Within MDRC0009, the alteration zone is intersected over 32 metres downhole (at plus 0.8% Li2O+Rb2O), including two higher grade zones of 9.0m @ 1.23% Li2O+Rb2O and 5m @ 1.05% Li2O+Rb2O.