Dreadnought Resources (ASX: DRE) has completed a lithium potential review across its portfolio resulting in 16 camp scale targets at the 100% owned Central Yilgarn and 100% owned Mangaroon Projects located in the Yilgarn and Gascoyne Regions of Western Australia.
“With the year’s significant drilling campaigns wrapping up, Dreadnought looks forward to returning to its roots and getting back to generative exploration across its portfolio of projects and the potential within,” Managing Director, Dean Tuck, said.
“The first cab off the rank from the recently completed project wide stream sediment surveys at Mangaroon and the ongoing review of Central Yilgarn has resulted in the identification of several camp scale potential LCT pegmatite swarms.
“With the intense interest in both regions for lithium, Dreadnought views lithium target definition work as a significant low cost, high value exploration priority. With crews in the field at Mangaroon already commencing regional sampling and multiple crews heading to Central Yilgarn in the coming weeks there will be no shortage of exciting catalysts as we look to add to our portfolio of discoveries and exploration opportunities.”
Central Yilgarn 10 Camp Scale targets
Central Yilgarn is strategically located ~55kms from a number of high-profile projects being Mt Ida. Davyhurst and Mt Bevan.
Dreadnought identified the 6km x 2km Peggy Sue pegmatite swarm by a coincident Li-Cs-Ta-Be-Nb in soil anomaly with mapped pegmatites. Systematic exploration of Peggy Sue identified widespread tantalum (up to 528ppm Ta2O5) and highly fractionated and fertile LCT pegmatites (based on Mg/Li and Nb/Ta ratios) with little outcropping lithium mineralisation (peak value 0.4% LiO2). Further work at Peggy Sue was deferred pending completion of a project wide review.
The project wide lithium potential review was undertaken using extensive mapping and soil geochemistry completed over the project since the original work at Peggy Sue. The review has successfully generated 10 camp scale Li-Cs-Ta-Be-Nb in soil anomalies (including Peggy Sue) across the greenstone belts at Central Yilgarn. Of the new targets, seven contain mapped outcropping pegmatites and two have possible pegmatites identified from satellite imagery.
With the exception of Peggy Sue, none of these areas have been sampled or previously explored for LCT pegmatites.
In December 2023, a first pass rock chip sampling and mapping program will commence across each of the targets. This programme is designed to:
- Identify outcropping LCT mineralisation, and
- Determine the fertility and prospectivity of pegmatites within each target.
Results of this program are expected in February 2024.
The results of this first pass programme will determine which areas receive further detailed and systematic mapping and surface sampling to define drill targets.
