Riversgold Ltd (ASX:RGL) is not resting on its laurels during the holiday season with work programs planned to start this month at the Tambourah and Mt Holland lithium projects in Western Australia’s Pilbara and Yilgarn regions respectively.
At Tambourah a third drill campaign is set to kick off on December 11 after two campaigns comprising 19 holes for 2,434 metres were completed.
The initial drilling at Tambourah was focused on the Bengal prospect targeting priority one, two and three LCT (lithium-caesium-tantalum) pegmatite targets.
An additional Deep Ground Penetrating Radar (DGPR) has also been completed over another 24 line kilometres covering an area of 1 square kilometre.
“Progressing exceptionally well”
Riversgold CEO Julian Ford said: “After visiting Tambourah last week, I am pleased to report drilling is progressing exceptionally well and we have intercepted a number of LCT pegmatites that show classic fractionation as per our exploration model.
“The DGPR has proven its worth by successfully identifying subsurface pegmatites further into the greenstone, in the goldilocks zone where no surface outcrop is seen.
“This was the motivation for expanding the Bengal DGPR campaign three-fold and with the data gathering phase successfully completed by a dedicated Ultramag crew, working in difficult heat conditions.”
Mt Holland next focus
At Mt Holland, Riversgold will this month carry out a 20-kilometre line length DGPR survey covering 1.8 square kilometres on ground adjacent to Covalent Lithium’s Mt Holland Lithium Project.
This will follow an extensive geochemical sampling program recently completed over 1.8 square kilometres, with assays expected in the new year.
The sampling identified a number of pegmatite outcrops that are being assessed for LCT prospectivity.
“We are also making excellent progress at Mt Holland and will soon begin to identify and refine drill targets for the first quarter of next year,” Ford said.
“With the imminent onset of the wet season in the Pilbara, Mt Holland will soon become the focus of our exploration efforts and we are excited about undertaking more meaningful work on our ground in that region.”
Tambourah targets
The priority one targets at Tambourah were developed through the identification of outcropping lithium mineralisation where rock chips at surface have graded between 1.5% and 18% Li2O.
Priority two and three targets were developed using DGPR to identify LCT pegmatites up to 50 metres below surface.
The second batch of samples have been sent to Perth for multi-element analysis while the company expects to complete the third drill campaign at Tambourah before the end of 2022.
Using information gleaned from drilling, Riversgold is working with Ultramag to improve the interpretation of DGPR and intends to apply its learnings to the development of targets at Tambourah and Mt Holland in the future.
DPGR at Mt Holland
After completing its work at Tambourah, Ultramag has mobilised to Mt Holland and is set to start a DGPR survey this week.
Assays from the geochemical sampling program recently completed on the ground are expected early in the new year, which should coincide with receipt of interpreted results from the DGPR survey.
DGPR is a powerful targeting tool that Riversgold intends to utilise in 2023.
It was used successfully by Galaxy Resources in its exploration efforts at the Mt Cattlin Lithium Project and by Kidman Resources at Mt Holland in 2016.
This prior experience gives Riversgold the confidence that the technology will be effective and helpful in developing exploration targets at its Mt Holland prospect.
“Adequately funded”
“Following completion of a $6.1 million capital raising in early November, the company is adequately funded to undertake extensive exploration programs on both projects leading into 2023 and a busy year awaits,” Ford added.