Everest Metals Corporation Limited (ASX: EMC) has commenced a Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling programme at the Mt Edon LCT Project (M59/714) located five km southwest of Paynes Find, in the Mid-West region of Western Australia.
The drilling campaign is designed to:
- Drill circa 40 RC drill holes for a total of circa 1,000m
- Focus on and test the recently identified multiple Deep Ground targets
- Penetration Radar (“DGPR”) geophysical pegmatite targets
- Follow up on previous geological mapping of Lithium, Caesium, and Tantalum (“LCT”) pegmatite structures
EMC continues to systematically work through its exploration program at Mt Edon, which has culminated in the commencement of this 1,000- metre drilling programme, designed to test the best targets for Lithium mineralisation,” Chief Operating Officer, Simon Phillips, said.
“The company commends the efforts of the Geological team for its thoroughness through this process, starting with the recognition of signature Lithium, Caesium, Rubidium and Tantalum to the recently finalised Deep Ground Penetration Radar Geophysical Survey, giving all stakeholders the highest possibility of exploration success.”
Mt Edon LCT Project sits on mining lease (M59/704) and covers the southern portion of the Paynes Find greenstone belt in the southern Murchison which hosts an extensive pegmatite field.
From the previously completed rock chip sampling programne, up to 2.7% Lithium grades (Li2O), Tantalum grades up to 1046ppm (Ta2 O5), and Caesium grades of up to 5057ppm (Cs2O) were reported from sampling of pegmatite outcrops. The Potassium / Rubidium (K/Rb) ratio of this sampling programme reflects the degree of substitution of Rb for K in the mica’s crystal structure and most of the samples are indicative of highly to moderately fractionated pegmatites.
EMC funded a due diligence reconnaissance RC drilling programme and a total of 507m of drilling was completed in late October 2022. The drilling was conducted from eight drilling fence lines and included 24 shallow holes with an average depth of 21m.
Assays returned encouraging results with elevated Rubidium (Rb) up to 3,670 ppm, Caesium (Cs) up to 354 ppm, Tantalum (Ta) up to 219 ppm, and Lithium (Li) up to 1220 ppm.
The maiden drilling programme determined the subsurface lithium-bearing potential of the Project area below the weathered zone and indicated that pegmatites have moderate to strong fractionation characteristics.
Interpretation of results from the reconnaissance drilling programme has confirmed the pegmatite samples are anomalous in terms of rare metals by a median factor of around 14 times higher than background host rock and suggest that there are several prospective targets for lithium-bearing pegmatites within the Project area.
