Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX:ARV, AIM:ARV, OTCQB:ARTTF) has completed a successful ground reconnaissance rock chip sampling program, identifying the presence of lithium-bearing spodumene mineralisation on tenement E47/1746 – the Mt Marie Lithium Prospect - in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The best rock chip samples provided results of 1.82%, 1.62% and 0.78% lithium oxide, respectively.
Artemis has described the result as a “significant lithium pegmatite discovery”, drawing parallels with Azure Mineral’s Andover project directly to the east, which has an exploration target of between 100 and 240 million tonnes of lithium, grading between 1 and 1.5% lithium oxide.
The presence of spodumene was confirmed with a portable x-ray diffraction analyser.
Potential emerging lithium corridor
“These rock chip results are a vote of confidence in the new technical team and the methodologies they’ve employed to explore for lithium-bearing pegmatites on our 100% owned tenements,” Artemis Resources executive director George Ventouras said.
“Importantly for the company and the region, this discovery is further evidence of a potential corridor of lithium mineralisation extending beyond 40 kilometres in the west Pilbara region, where Artemis’ tenements are located.
“We are further encouraged by the geological structure of the pegmatites which appear to be coarse-grained and feature large spodumene crystals and may parallel the Azure Minerals' Andover discovery.
“We are excited by this development and looking forward to undertaking further work on our 100% owned tenement package.”
From here, Artemis will complete further reconnaissance and follow-up sampling across the tenement to better understand its lithium potential.
Workstreams will include drone surveying, rock chip sampling, and soil sampling among other ground reconnaissance techniques targeted at determining the extent of the mineralised envelope.