St George Mining Limited (ASX: SGQ) has received further significant positive results from the lithium exploration programme at its Mt Alexander Project, located in the north-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.
We are delighted that our exploration team is continuing to deliver success in identifying pegmatite outcrops that appear highly prospective for lithium mineralisation, providing support for Mt Alexander’s significant lithium potential,” Executive Chairman, John Prineas, said.
“We are seeing thick pegmatite dykes spread over a zone more than 15km long in the same corridor parallel to the Copperfield Granite where major discoveries have been announced by Red Dirt Metals. We are increasingly excited by the potential that Mt Alexander may form part of the same pegmatite hosted lithium mineral system.
“Our field work is the first lithium focused exploration conducted at Mt Alexander and we very pleased with the pace at which the evidence for the lithium potential is building.
“This lithium work is a fantastic complement to our nickel exploration at Mt Alexander, which is progressing in parallel with a fixed loop electromagnetic survey scheduled to start next week. This will enable final modelling of several promising nickel targets for drill testing.
“With lithium and nickel drilling planned at Mt Alexander for Q4 2022, it is an exciting time for shareholders.”
Lithium potential at Mt Alexander
Initial rock chip sampling of pegmatite outcrop at Mt Alexander confirmed a geochemistry indicative of lithium, caesium and tantalum (LCT) fertile pegmatites.
In particular, assays returned high values of rubidium – a key indicator of fertile pegmatites in weathered terrains such as the Mt Ida lithium province.
An expanded field mapping and rock chip sampling programme is ongoing to identify areas for additional pegmatites and drilling. The current programme is focused on two tenements where extensive pegmatite outcrops continue to be mapped – E29/638 (75% St George; 25% IGO) and E29/962 (100% St George).
The east-west striking pegmatite dykes mapped at these tenements occur along a north-south trending corridor parallel with the Copperfield Granite, which may be a source of the pegmatites. This pegmatite corridor extends for more than 15km across St George’s tenure and can be traced southwards to the area hosting lithium discoveries announced by Red Dirt at its Mt Ida Project.
Given the early success of our expanded field programme, St George’s maiden drill programme for lithium targets will be scheduled for Q4 2022.
More fertile pegmatites identified
To date, 69 rock chip samples have been collected from E29/638 and 50 samples from E29/962 in the second phase of our mapping and sampling programme. The samples will be submitted for laboratory assay to check for the presence of lithium and other pathfinder elements for lithium mineralisation.
In addition, selected samples will undergo analysis by portable XRD spectrometer – this can provide a semi-quantitative report on the mineralogy of rock samples including confirmation of any spodumene and lepidolite content.
Importantly, mineralogy considered highly prospective for lithium minerals has been visually identified in numerous samples collected from five pegmatite dykes sampled to date on E29/962.
These prospective pegmatites have an east-west strike of up to 400m and occur along a 1.7km interval of the LCT Pegmatite corridor. The width and extent of these outcropping pegmatites suggests the potential for a lithium mineral system that could host significant mineralisation at depth. Field mapping in the area is ongoing.
A section of the LCT Pegmatite corridor within E29/962 is poorly exposed. This area is directly along strike from the lithium occurrences at Red Dirt’s ground to the south and warrants further investigation for the potential of prospective pegmatites, some of which may be under shallow cover. A soil survey of 200m line spacing x 100m sample spacing is underway in this area to test for a geochemical signature that may be indicative of the presence of lithium bearing pegmatites.
New lithium province
The province around Mt Ida is emerging as a new lithium province since the significant high-grade lithium discovery by Red Dirt at its Mt Ida Project in September 2021.
In addition to St George and Red Dirt, significant exploration is underway in this region by:
- Zenith Minerals (ASX: ZNC) in joint venture with EV Metals plc.
- Hawthorn Resources (ASX: HAW) in joint venture with Hancock Prospecting.
The lithium prospectivity of this region is interpreted to be associated with the large Copperfield Granite. The prospective LCT Pegmatite corridor is interpreted between the contact with the Copperfield Granite in the east and the Ida Fault in the west.
