Sabre Resources Ltd (ASX: SBR) has more than doubled its tenement holding at the Sherlock Bay Project in WA’s Pilbara region to over 210 square kilometres.
The Sherlock Bay Project is located in the highly prospective northwest Pilbara region of. 50km east and in the same structural and intrusive corridor as the Andover Project of Azure Minerals Ltd. Recent intersections from the major Andover lithium pegmatite discovery include up to 209.4m @ 1.42% Li2O.
The new tenement applications include the Andover East targets in ELA 47/5003, associated with significant northeast trending magnetic depletion zones indicative of structures intruded by buried, possibly pegmatitic intrusions. These targets are analogous to the Andover lithium pegmatite discovery which is also associated with a magnetic low in a northeast trending structural corridor.
Sabre has now established a very large, more than 210 square kilometre, tenement holding, directly to the east and within the same structural-intrusive corridor as the Andover lithium pegmatite discovery of Azure Minerals,” CEO, Jon Dugdale, said.
“The new tenement applications include the Andover East targets identified in magnetics imagery that lie under soil cover. Pegmatite outcrops and drillcore intersections of pegmatite in the vicinity of these targets have anomalous lithium as well as other pathfinder elements. This supports the high prospectivity of the Company’s Sherlock Bay tenements for the location of major lithium discoveries.
“Following grant of the new tenement applications, the next steps will include detailed geophysical programs including gravity measurements to locate buried pegmatites that will then be tested with bedrock aircore drilling.
“The drilling will test for buried lithium bearing pegmatites within this highly prospective tenement package within what is now recognised as a world class lithium pegmatite region.”
Examination of previous exploration reports highlighted the presence of outcropping pegmatite in the eastern most application, E47/4990.
“Field investigation has located a large area of outcropping pegmatites in this location, which occur in an erosional gully across a more than 140m wide zone.”
Sub-cropping pegmatites are also evident in the surrounding soil covered areas, indicating that this is an extensive zone of pegmatites. Sampling of the outcropping pegmatites produced anomalous lithium (Li), cesium (Cs) and rubidium (Rb) results indicating that the outcropping pegmatites may be at the eastern edge of a higher-grade lithium zone. Highly anomalous gallium (Ga) was also detected in an unusual, sub-cropping, green pegmatite.
In addition, selective sampling of pegmatites intersected by recent diamond drillhole SBDD0044 include highly anomalous lithium and rubidium as well as cesium and tantalum results, indicative of LCT pegmatites. The pegmatites occur in volcanic rocks to the north/hanging wall side of the sulphide mineralised horizon in Symonds Zone, which is part of the Sherlock Bay nickel sulphide deposit. Further examination of the extensive drillcore database is in progress to locate more LCT pegmatites for sampling and assay.
Zones of magnetic depletion to the north and west of the outcropping pegmatites, including a major northeast trending target corridor within the large new application, E47/5003, at Andover East, represent targets for lithium bearing pegmatites of similar scale to the Andover lithium discovery.
The Andover lithium pegmatites occur within northeast trending structural corridors northeast of the mafic intrusive complex that hosts the nickel sulphides on that project. This is a similar geological scenario to the Andover East targets at Sherlock Bay. The lithium pegmatites at Andover outcrop, whereas the company’s Andover East targets are located under soil/alluvium cover and have not been explored previously.
Following the grant of the new tenement applications the company will carry out a detailed geophysical program over the identified lithium-pegmatite target zones, including gravity and passive seismic measurements.
This programme will be designed to detect low-density (low-gravity) pegmatite intrusives within the mafic complex at Andover East, with passive seismic targeting coincident “palaeo-highs”, representing resistant ridges under shallow soil cover that could represent pegmatites.
Aircore drilling to bedrock will then test these buried targets for lithium bearing pegmatites similar to the Andover pegmatite discovery, which lies within the same structural and intrusive corridor and is only 50km to the west of Sherlock Bay.
