Maximus Resources Ltd (ASX:MXR, OTC:MXRRF) has delineated a new target area, Landor, from a project-wide soil geochemistry survey at the Lefroy Lithium Project in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, with a significant lithium-in-soil anomaly identified.
Maximus owns 100% of Lefroy and the South Korean Government's mining agency, KOMIR, has the option to acquire up to a 30% interest by investing up to US$3 million while Maximus continues to oversee project management.
“These additional results from the project-wide soil sampling program add to the exciting lithium targets at the company’s Lefroy Lithium Project,” said Maximus managing director Tim Wither.
“Both the soil geochemistry mapping and the successful first-phase drill program utilised the US$200,000 non-refundable deposit under our strategic partnership with KOMIR.
"We are continuing with field mapping at Lefroy and expect the second and third phases of soil mapping to be returned over the coming months, which are expected to deliver additional drill targets in the southern areas.
The lithium soil anomaly at Landor covers around 800 metres in strike length and around 200 metres wide, and is directly along strike of Kali Metals’ Parker-Grubb Lithium Prospect.
This lithium-in-soil anomaly correlates with multiple highly fractionated outcropping pegmatites.
Maximus’ Lefroy Lithium Project soil program, including the latest lithium-in-soil results and mapped outcropping pegmatites.
The company carried out a comprehensive soil geochemistry sampling program across the Lefroy area — which spans around 50 square kilometres — taking a total of 3,290 soil samples at 200-metre by 50-metre intervals.
Assay results identified several high-priority targets within the phase 1 area. Additional results from Landor have been received, with results for phase 2 and phase 3 samples awaited.
Lithium assay results from Landor have delineated a new target area of strong lithium in soil anomalism, with associated pathfinder elements caesium and tantalum.
Confirmed prospectivity for LCT
Landor is around 2-kilometres northwest of the company’s spodumene-bearing pegmatites at the Kandui Prospect.
The company’s exploration team collected 37 soil samples at Landor where an extensive lithium-in-soil concentration exceeding 60ppm lithium oxide reveals a robust and consistent anomaly spanning around 800 metres in strike.
Soil geochemistry mapping identified highly anomalous pathfinder elements which include peaks of 165ppm lithium oxide, 19ppm caesium and 80ppm tantalum.
The soil geochemistry results along with recent and previous rock chip samples, confirm Landor’s prospectivity for LCT mineralisation.
The Landor pegmatites are confirmed to be highly fractionated and exhibit geochemical ratios indicative of a high potential for spodumene mineralisation, including potassium/rubidium, niobium/tantalum and magnesium/lithium.
Maximus says the results represent “a significant step forward” in the exploration and geological assessment of Landor, indicating that the prospect may be part of a larger LCT pegmatite mineral system that encompasses the numerous pegmatite occurrences in the area.
What’s ahead?
Since the initial phase of soil geochemical results at Lefroy, Maximus has been completing supplementary fieldwork, including infill soil sampling and extended field mapping.
The company is preparing for a subsequent drilling campaign set to begin within this quarter, subject to receiving the necessary final approvals from the Australian Government Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).
The second phase drill program at Lefroy will focus on expanding previous intersections of spodumene-bearing pegmatites at Kandui and testing additional regional targets at Yilma and Landor.
The company also expects to receive the assay results from the Phase 2 and 3 soil sampling programs towards the end of this current quarter, with the anticipation that these findings will deliver additional drilling targets in the southern sections of Lefroy's tenement package.
“We anticipate the second phase drill program will start at Lefroy late this current quarter, pending Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval," said Wither.
"The second phase drill program will be targeting infill and extension of the intersected spodumene-bearing pegmatites at the Kandui prospect, whilst scout drilling at both our Landor and Yilmia lithium targets.”