Aldoro Resources Ltd (ASX:ARN) has set up the reverse circulation (RC) drill rig on-site at the Niobe Project and is all set to start a planned 3,730-metre drilling campaign.
The 66-hole program across Niobe East, Breakaway and Niobe Southeast prospects will target lithium and rubidium, following an extensive sampling program the company conducted in the last quarter of 2021.
Increasing exploration target
The program will start on the Niobe East pegmatite system and aims to increase the exploration target based on the limited historical drilling and recent rock chip sampling results.
Rock chip sampling indicated that Niobe East anomalous rubidium and lithium values extend over 400 metres in strike length, which justifies the proposed drilling into this multilayered pegmatite section.
Breakaway and Niobe Southest
Drilling will also be conducted at the Breakaway and Niobe Southeast pegmatites, where historical drilling has not tested for the presence of these two minerals.
Rock chip sampling at the Breakaway pegmatites, to the west, found anomalous lithium and rubidium extending over a strike length of 100 metres, while at Niobe Southeast, the few samples collected contain the promise of anomalous rubidium.
Vast resource
Last year, the company identified a vast exploration target of around 33,000 to 150,000 tonnes at the Main Pegmatite location, with grades ranging from 696-1457ppm rubidium oxide (Rb2O), and it is understandably keen to access this resource.
It may have to wait just a little bit longer, because a temporary glitch in the form of a total fire ban across the entire Niobe project area is putting the brakes on. Once the fire ban lifts, with the rig on site, earthworks and resource drilling will immediately kick off.
About Aldoro Resources
Aldoro Resources is a mineral exploration and development company with a portfolio of gold and nickel focused advanced exploration projects in Western Australia.
The company's flagship project is the Narndee Igneous Complex, which is prospective for nickel, copper and platinum-group mineralisation.
Other projects include the Cathedrals Belt Nickel Project, with a significant tenement holding surrounding St George Mining's Mt Alexander Project, the Leinster Nickel Project and the Windimurra Igneous Complex, which contains nickel, copper, platinum group elements and lithium.