A strategic review of Premier1 Lithium Ltd (ASX:PLC)’s exploration assets has identified the potential for gold and copper mineralisation within the company’s existing Western Australian asset portfolio.
The review, based on all available historical exploration data, has presented immediate exploration opportunities in the current high gold price environment.
The focus of the review was to identify follow up exploration targets as well as complementary exploration potential outside of lithium and prioritise expenditures in the current subdued lithium market.
The company has planned upcoming fieldwork planned to test targets and confirm mineralisation potential
While lithium remains the company’s longer-term focus, the considerable exploration potential for gold and copper mineralisation within the existing exploration portfolio presents an immediate opportunity.
Yalgoo project
The decision to report historical exploration results is driven by the significant untapped potential within the Yalgoo project area.
A review of historical exploration at the Yalgoo project has identified extensive gold mineralisation, including high-grade intercepts of 5 metres at 5.1g/t gold and 10 metres at 6.4g/t gold. This gold mineralisation at Yalgoo is untested both at depth and along strike, highlighting clear opportunities.
This high-grade gold mineralisation has been largely overlooked for over 20 years, but the data are crucial in guiding current and future exploration efforts, helping to refine targets and better understand the mineralisation within the region.
“The Yalgoo project has surprised me with the numerous high-grade gold intercepts at near surface that have been largely untouched since the 1990s,” Premier1 managing director Jason Froud said.
“The Murchison Region of Western Australia is a highly prospective and active mining district with demonstrated prospectivity for high grade gold and base metals discoveries. With sporadic drill testing and an average drilling depth of only 46 metres, the Yalgoo project is essentially unexplored at depth and along strike.
“Geological review work by our technical team has identified a number of walk-up drill targets with excellent potential to yield a substantial gold resource. Upon completion of our technical review, we intend to begin field work to test these targets and I look forward to a steady stream of news flow going forward.”
Premier1 entered into the Yalgoo project in May 2023 with a farm-in agreement with Venture Minerals Ltd, now Critica Ltd. The project was identified due to its lithium potential and initial exploration by the company focused solely on lithium.
The project covers some 220 square kilometres across much of the northern portion of the Yalgoo-Singleton Greenstone Belt, which hosts both the large Golden Grove and Deflector copper-gold mines and many other deposits and prospects.