Westar Resources Ltd (ASX:WSR) has wrapped up negotiations that will expand the footprint of its Olga Rocks Lithium-Gold Project, snapping up 100% of licence P77/4070, adjacent to the project.
The acquisition builds on the Olga Rocks holding of four granted mining leases and two prospecting permits in an emerging lithium pegmatite province, extending potential strike across the central pegmatite zone to some 3 kilometres.
Westar has agreed to pay $5,000 cash and issue 500,000 fully paid ordinary shares to the vendors. There is no change to the board of Westar.
Limited previous exploration
The new tenement is considered highly prospective not just for lithium, but also for rare metals and gold, and it complements the existing tenement holding.
What’s more, it’s along strike of the north-northwest trending interpreted central and western pegmatite zone on the southern tenure.
Importantly, there has been limited previous systematic exploration, none of which targeted known pegmatite bodies.
Westar is therefore confident of multiple pegmatite intercepts, which would significantly increase the potential strike length of the LCT-type pegmatites interpreted in the southern portion of Olga rocks.
The new tenure will be included in the exploration drilling being planned to test the lithium mineralisation within the interpreted LCT pegmatite swarm.
“We know we’re in the right district”
“Although early days for the Olga Rocks Project, the pegmatite story is building rapidly with historical drilling indicating substantial thickness and strike extent of the central pegmatite zone and rock-chips indicating LCT-style fractionated pegmatites,” managing director Karl Jupp said.
“We know we’re in the right district with ASX-listed neighbours Zenith Minerals and Xantippe having recent lithium exploration success and the world-class Covalent Lithium Project at Mt Holland is approximately 40 kilometres away within the same Southern Cross-Forrestania Greenstone Belt.
“With the current lithium focus, we haven’t even begun to evaluate the gold potential of the project either, which from historical intercepts and the number of workings is extremely encouraging.”
Historical RAB drilling struck multiple shallow pegmatite intercepts along strike of the interpreted central pegmatite zone and this data builds on the interpreted western pegmatite zone.
Westar field and technical studies have identified three zones of LCT-prospective pegmatite at the Olga Rocks project, being Western, Central and Eastern zones.
The company is also buoyed by the knowledge that ASX-listed neighbours Zenith Minerals and Xantippe have recently announced significant lithium-bearing pegmatites in drilling, and that the world-class Covalent Lithium Project at Mt Holland is 40 kilometres away within the same greenstone belt.
Next steps
Westar has commissioned PGN Geoscience to compile a detailed litho-structural interpretation using high-resolution open file data to define and orient the pegmatite under cover and assist in drill targeting for both LCT-style pegmatite mineralisation and gold.
Other planned exploration activities include:
- mapping and rock-chip sampling;
- ongoing review of historical gold mining reports overlying the tenure;
- assessing the western Parker Dome tenement for LCT pegmatite potential; and
- permitting and approvals prior to a maiden proof of concept reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign.