Lightning Minerals Ltd (ASX:L1M) has confirmed a lithium exploration strategy comprising a 12,500-metre drill plan set to kick off during the June quarter at its Dundas Project in Western Australia.
The drill program will include 2,500 metres of reverse circulation (RC) and 10,000 metres of aircore drilling at Dundas South tenement E63/2001.
This will follow up a combination of recent priority targets identified through the mapping of outcropping pegmatites, geophysical reinterpretations and lithium-rubidium in soil anomalism identified in the south-eastern corner of tenement E63/2001.
Furthermore, soil geochemistry results have also been received for tenement E63/2028, which again demonstrate the requirement for further exploration activity at the Dundas South prospects.
"Continued positive results"
Lightning's CEO Alex Biggs said: “Our exploration at Dundas is gathering momentum. It is pleasing to see the speed of progress of both the on-ground works and the development of our inaugural drill program.
“With multiple exploration targets across the Dundas region and continued positive results, it is exciting to see the company establish itself as an active participant in an emerging lithium and critical minerals province.”
Planned phase 1 drilling areas within tenement E63/2001 at the Dundas South Project.
PoW applications
Two Program of Work (PoW) applications for drilling activities have now been approved through the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS).
In addition, discussions with the Ngadju Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (NNTAC) are progressing well with final heritage agreements to be signed.
Moving forward, drill contractor tendering processes will progress subsequent to the PoW approvals.
Soil sampling results
The company is undertaking a regional soil sampling campaign across its Dundas tenements to explore lithium anomalies and indicators of potential lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) mineralisation.
Assay results have now been returned for a further 184 soil samples from tenement E63/2028.
The initial reconnaissance exploration campaign samples were collected on a nominal 400 x 400-metre grid across the tenement, analysis was completed using the Ultrafine + (UFF+) technique with chemical analysis for a suite of 62 elements including lithium and associated pathfinders for LCT mineralisation.
These areas have broadly coincident elevations of both lithium and caesium, and importantly these occur within Archaean mafic and ultramafic greenstone lithologies with peak results of 60.9ppm lithium and 5.6ppm caesium have been returned for samples that lie above the interpreted greenstone terrains.
These ‘first pass’ results at a sample spacing of 400 x 400 metres are considered encouraging as potential pathfinder elements and warrant further follow-up field investigation.
Forward plan
Soil sampling programs continue across the Dundas projects, with Dundas North tenements E28/3027 and E28/3028 now the focus of field activities.
To date, the program has collected about 75% of the 2,700 planned samples, with sampling initially being completed on a 400 x 400-metre grid spacing.
Closer-spaced sampling may be undertaken where geological prospectivity has been identified with all sampling on the Dundas South tenements now completed.