Riversgold Ltd (ASX:RGL) has kicked off surface sampling and a deep ground penetrating radar (DGPR) survey at its Mt Holland Lithium prospect in WA’s southern Yilgarn Craton to help define targets for an upcoming drilling program.
“We’re very excited to have started work on our Mt Holland Lithium prospect. After our recent success in the Pilbara, we’ll be replicating our exploration model in the Southern Cross Belt to generate drill targets and test them as soon as we can,” Riversgold chief executive officer Julian Ford said.
“The Mt Holland prospect is an outstanding target. We expect the updated geochemistry and geophysics data by year-end, enabling us to be drill-ready for early 2023.”
Location of the tenement relative to the Mt Holland Lithium Complex.
Historical targets
Riversgold acquired an 80% interest in the project’s lithium rights in August this year. The tenement lies immediately adjacent to the globally significant Mt Holland lithium mine, currently under development by Covalent Lithium, the joint venture between Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A.
Three lithium target areas have been identified on Riversgold’s Mt Holland tenement, where past gold drilling intersected pegmatite that coincides with historical surface geochemical anomalies.
The DGPR program by Ultramag Geophysics Pty Ltd scheduled for next month will include the area surrounding a Rotary Air Blast (RAB) hole drilled in 1993 by Normandy Exploration. This hole intersected 1 metre of pegmatite from 13-14 metres.
Coming up
In late October, Riversgold mobilised an exploration team to conduct reconnaissance on its landholding at Mt Holland to assess if the ground is suitable for geochemical sampling and to complete an orientation geochemistry by portable XRF pilot sampling program.
The northern two-thirds of the company’s tenement is covered by several drainage channels that are likely to reduce the effectiveness of standard surface sampling. The southern third was deemed suitable for standard surface sampling and has the potential to host shallow pegmatites.
Ultramag, which successfully identified lithium-bearing pegmatites with DGPR at Riversgold’s Tambourah Project in the Pilbara, has already completed a DGPR program for a neighbouring tenement holder where several interpreted potential pegmatites have been identified within the lithium-caesium-tantalum ‘Goldilocks Zone’.
The work schedule in the coming months will consist of:
- November 2022 – a surface sampling program to expand on and verify the historical 146-sample program completed by Kidman Resources in 2016.
- December 2022 – a 20-line kilometre DGPR program to try to identify potential pegmatites under cover.
- Q4 2022 – the lodgement of a Program of Works for follow-up drilling targeted on soils sampling and DGPR survey results.
- Q1 2023 – (i) refine drill targets from new and updated geochemistry and geophysics information and complete statutory requirements to allow effective drilling, and (ii) mobilise and drill targets at Mount Holland Earl Grey (MHG) and Mt Holland Bounty (MHB), where a number of preliminary geochemical lithium targets have been identified, but will be refined from the current exploration activities.