Kali Metals Ltd (ASX:KM1) is trading higher on identifying more high-grade lithium in soil and rock chip sampling at Spargoville and Widgiemooltha projects in the Higginsville Lithium District of Western Australia.
The results come as part of a district-scale exploration program sampling all eight prospects within the Higginsville Lithium District project areas that will continue throughout 2024.
Kali's soil program has indicated these latest lithium results correlate with existing outcropping lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite trends, one of the most common forms of hard-rock lithium mineralisation.
Equally, the soil program has demonstrated potential for further mineralisation along strike and under alluvial (dirt, sand and loose gravel) cover, while rock chip samples up to 5.05% lithium oxide have indicated potentially economic levels of lithium oxide.
Investors have responded positively with shares as much as 12.83% higher intra-day to A$0.44.
Effective exploration techniques
“The positive early results from the soil geochemical survey program confirm that this technique works well with the geology found at the Higginsville Lithium District, which is not always the case with other regional areas,” Kali Metals general manager of geology Stuart Peterson said.
“The soil sampling results have shown the lithium mineralisation could extend over areas with alluvial cover along strike and width, where no outcropping pegmatites are visible.
“With more high-grade lithium assays returned from the rock chip sampling program, the company plans to expand both the soil geochemical program and subsequent drill targeting to include these additional prospective areas as they become available.”
Assays from rock chip sampling include:
Spargoville Project:
- Flynn-Giles Prospect – 5.05% lithium oxide (Li2O), 2.64% Li20 and 2.57% Li2O; and
- Parker-Grubb Prospect – 2.57% Li2O.
Widgiemooltha Project:
- Arc Prospect – 2.21% Li2O, 1.60% Li2O and 1.38% Li2O;
- Wireless Prospect – 2.14% Li2O; and
- X-Ray Prospect – 1.52% Li2O.
Kali Metals intends to begin reverse circulation (RC) drilling programs at Spargoville in the first half of this year, testing the Flynn-Gyles and Green Flame pegmatites with 10,000 metres of drilling.
The program will focus on known lithium occurrences and outcropping trends with expanding step-out drilling along strike and down dip.