First-pass exploration by Lithium Australia at its 100%-owned Eichigt project in Germany has produced grab samples assaying at up to 0.6% cobalt from historic copper workings at the project.
In an update to the ASX, the disruptive lithium processor and explorer reported that the first five grab samples from copper-bearing quartz veins had all produced significant values of cobalt, with two samples returning significant grades of 0.6%. Sampling also yielding encouraging copper values, ranging from 0.17% to 0.48%
The quartz-copper veins were mined on a small scale in the 16th century, but have been overlooked for centuries and have not been explored previously for cobalt.
The Eichigt project is close to Lithium Australia’s Sadisdorf lithium resource in the Eastern Erzgebirge or “Ore Mountains” near the border with the Czech Republic.
The reconnaissance exploration also revealed recent multiple diggings by mineral collectors and additional quartz veins, all of which remain open along strike and dip.
Lithium Australia snapped up the 133 square km Eichigt licence in January as part of a strategy to secure battery metals in close proximity to Europe’s rapidly expanding manufacturing base for electric vehicle batteries.
It follows last year’s deal to farm into the Sadisdorf deposit, an historic tin mine that Lithium Australia correctly picked as having strong lithium potential, with additional potential value from tin and tungsten.
Managing Director, Adrian Griffin, said: “Strong, previously undescribed cobalt mineralisation at surface confirms the limited nature of past exploration. The diggings encountered are testimony to the considerable extent of the strike. Close to our Sadisdorf Lithium Project and on the doorstep of European EV manufacturers, this cobalt could provide a strategic feed into the burgeoning battery industry.”
By Matt Birney
