Cashed-up Askari acquires NT lithium project

Copper-gold exploration company Askari Metals has got its hands on a considerable parcel of sought-after lithium ground after acquiring the Barrow Creek Lithium project in the NT off the back of an oversubscribed $2.6 million capital raise. The fertile ground forms part of the Arunta Pegmatite Province and is considered highly prospective for lithium-tin-tantalum mineralisation. The project also borders major league lithium players such as Lithium Plus and Core Lithium.

The company says its Barrow Creek lithium project neighbours exploration licenses with similar geology held by the $343 billion market capped Chinese owned Lithium Plus - one of the major distributors of lithium-ion batteries to market-leading Tesla.

Also sharing a border with Askari is the $1.5 billion market capped Core Lithium that hosts several tin-tantalum occurrences.

The newly acquired Barrow Creek project covers a solid 278 square kilometres in an area well known for hosting significant pegmatite swarms prospective for hard-rock spodumene-bearing lithium mineralisation.

Askari plans to follow-up several divided pegmatites that have already been mapped and documented in government reports within the Barrow Creek tenure. A reconnaissance site visit also resulted in geologists taking several rock chip samples with results expected to be announced by the company within the next two to three weeks.

Askari says the Arunta Pegmatite Province has been described by other miners and analysts as one of the largest pegmatite provinces in central Northern Territory.

Importantly, Barrow Creek has year-round access via the Stuart Highway that the company says will support low-cost exploration.

The company plans to waste little time getting stuck into exploration works at its newly acquired project with a hyperspectral remote sensing program set to commence immediately over the Barrow Creek tenure.

The acquisition of the Barrow Creek lithium project is one of three recent lithium project acquisitions in Australia and Askari says the acquisition sets itself up as a prominent landholder in the lithium sector. The other two lithium projects recently acquired include the Yarrie lithium project in the Eastern Pilbara region of WA and the Red Peak project in the Meekatharra region of WA.

A recent oversubscribed $2.6 million placement allowed Askari to be in a strong cash position to be able to purchase the Barrow Creek lithium project from Consolidate Lithium Trading.

The company said exploration is scheduled to commence in short order with field mapping in addition to surface soil and rock chip sampling planned to evaluate the lithium potential of the numerous outcropping pegmatites. Soil samples will be taken in areas that do not outcrop and airborne geophysical methods will also be considered.

With this latest acquisition Askari has stepped up the hunt in its race for the minerals of the new millennium. Its growing arsenal of lithium projects across WA and the NT also appears well timed against the background of a skyrocketing lithium price which has surged more than 170 per cent over the past 12 months.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au