Dynamic Metals has revealed a 600m-long, 1km-wide lithium anomaly less than 20km from other mapped lithium pegmatites following a maiden soil sampling program at its Spargos East licence in Western Australia’s Goldfields region.
The program, which also took in the company’s Franks Far Southeast prospect, gleaned 880 samples from across both properties.
The first 300 samples returned from Spargos East were taken at a 40m sample spacing on 10 east-west-oriented lines spaced at 400m intervals, effectively representing a north-south strike distance of 4km. Results show the distinct lithium geochemical anomaly, with many values greater than 100 parts per million elemental lithium along most of the northernmost pair of sample lines.
Management says the potential for lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) mineralisation is supported by rubidium hits up to 492ppm, tantalum up to 57ppm and caesium up to 64ppm in a sample running 146ppm lithium, or 314ppm lithium oxide. The northernmost sample lines both contain 25 sequential hits above 50ppm lithium, confirming the 1km width of the anomalism and representing almost 90 per cent of the lithium hits above 50ppm in the program.
Teasingly, if lithium anomalism is directly associated with the local greenstone strike, or intrusive elements such as pegmatites within it, a scallop out of the western side of the company’s tenement may contain a southerly extension of the priority anomaly.
That could extend it another 1km further south outside the licence area, as possibly evidenced by elevated values at the extreme western end of the fifth sample line from the north of the grid and on top of a small magnetic high indicating the northern extremity of a greenstone trend that angles into Dynamic’s ground.
Lithium values tail off south of the anomaly, but remain cohesive and statistically meaningful, with a handful of responses in the 40ppm to 50ppm lithium range in the next three sample lines to the south. Thereafter, low but persistent values in the 30ppm to 40ppm lithium range extend weaker anomalism for a further three lines – or 1km – southwards.
These are fantastic first pass soil results for Dynamic, bolstering our belief that our projects hold significant mineral potential. It also clearly demonstrates the value of how we apply our systematic approach to exploration, ensuring no stone is left unturned – this is the key to discovery for Dynamic. Dynamic Metals managing director Karen Wellman
Spargos East is one of a big suite of granted exploration licences that make up the company’s already significant Widgiemooltha project – which covers an extensive area of about 880 square kilometres between Norseman and Kambalda – with more areas still under application. The licence lies about 16km west/south-west of Kambalda at the northern end of a series of narrow, sheared-out greenstone belts extending more than 100km north from Norseman.
The greenstones form part of the highly-mineralised Kambalda-Widgiemooltha area, which is mainly made up of typical late-Archaean granitoid-greenstone sequences. Geologically, the locality is in the Kalgoorlie terrane of the southern Norseman-Wiluna belt in the Yilgarn craton.
Historically, the region has been best known for its many highly-productive nickel and gold mines, but has recently also become noted for its lithium mineralisation and prospectivity, with many LCT pegmatites mapped throughout the area. Some of the lithium-rich localities have already evolved into significant hard-rock lithium mines producing spodumene concentrates, including the Mt Marion, Bald Hill and Buldania projects, all of which are within 25km of the centre of Dynamic’s tenure.
Spargos East is just 14km south of the 600,000 tonnes per year Mt Marion lithium mining and processing operation and other recent lithium discoveries such as Widgie Nickel’s Faraday-Trainline deposit and Maximus Resources’ Kandui prospect. Dynamic now plans to complete further soil sampling to define potential drill targets for next year and will work on permitting requirements.
It looks as though Spargos East has produced a big, coherent soil lithium anomaly for the company, with low-order, but cohesive and contourable geochemistry shouting out for further investigation. No local pegmatite outcrop is reported, but a site inspection would form part of the follow-up requirements before drilling – or even before infill soil sampling – to determine any obvious surface source of the anomalism.
Interestingly, lithium pegmatites have already been reported and mapped by the Geological Survey of WA and by explorers in the immediate area at Landor, Larkinville, Mandilla, Mt Edwards, Spargoville, West Spargoville and Widgiemooltha – all within 10 to 20km south of Spargos East.
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