ASX-listed Aurumin is set to continue its search for lithium at the company’s Mt Palmer project in the Goldfields after being named a successful applicant for the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme.
The explorer has executed an agreement with the Department of Mining, Industry Regulation and Safety, through its subsidiary Aurumin Mt Palmer, to receive up to 50 per cent of direct drilling and mobilisation costs, capped at $150,000.
The company is planning four RC holes with diamond tails to test targets identified in a geochemical multi-element soil anomalism, with results up to 146 parts per million lithium and resampled historical drill spoils returning levels of up to 391ppm tantalum.
The RC component of the program will drill to the base of weathering with transitional and fresh rock to be drilled by diamond core. The company says the holes will be drilled vertically to an expected depth of 250m to test interpreted broad flat-lying pegmatites for lithium potential.
The primary focus of the campaign is the company’s Vickers Find South prospect that forms part of the Mt Palmer project and has been identified as prospective for lithium mineralisation. The target hosts confirmed pegmatites within a mafic-ultramafic sequence in a geological setting similar to the Mt Holland lithium deposit, which is about 65km to the south.
The funding program is a WA Government initiative that aims to encourage local exploration for the long-term sustainability of the State’s resources sector. A total of 40 applications were successful from 35 different companies, in addition to a single prospector application.
Aurumin managing director Brad Valiukas said: “The EIS funding is a competitive process and excellent recognition of the lithium potential at Mt Palmer and the work completed to date, and we believe Aurumin was the only successful applicant for lithium exploration in the current funding round.”
The company says exploration to date has identified lithium and pathfinder-element anomalies from rock-chip, soil and drill-spoil sampling programs.
Last year, Aurumin completed a 12-hole RC program at the site with up to 370ppm lithium detected across several samples. The campaign drilled 1212m into the Vickers Find South prospect and intersected pegmatites ranging from 1m to 40m in thickness in 11 of the 12 holes – with a typical width of 20m. While the previous RC drilling intercepted multiple flat-lying pegmatites, extensive pathfinder elements and low-level lithium, the campaign was considered unsuccessful in drilling below approximately 100m due to ground conditions and excess water.
Historically, Mt Palmer is considered a gold project, having produced about 158,000 ounces at a respectable grade of 15.9 grams per tonne between 1934 and 1944.
The upcoming campaign at the Vicker Find South prospect will be conducted at the same time as ongoing gold exploration at Aurumin’s Sandstone and Mt Dimer operations.
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By Michael Philipps
