Lithium Australia zeroes in on Julimar-style nickel targets

Lithium Australia has begun work on its Wundowie nickel-PGE project in the hills east of Perth that were recently made famous in mining circles by Chalice Gold Mines who discovered a cracking nickel-PGE deposit in an area that was previously thought to have limited prospectivity. A first-pass review of the historical exploration data for Lithium Australia’s project has revealed an extensive coincident copper, gold and PGE anomaly adjacent to the Coates Mafic Intrusive Complex.

The Wundowie project is located in the hills behind Perth in Western Australia and is a mere 29km southeast of Chalice Gold Mine’s extraordinary Julimar nickel-PGE discovery near the town of Tooday. The Wundowie project covers 59 square kilometres over the Coates Mafic Intrusive Complex and is a collaborative agreement between Lithium Australia, Australian Vanadium and privateer, Mercator Metals.

Lithium Australia’s joint venture partner at Wundowie, Australian Vanadium said:

“The discovery of nickel-copper-PGE at the Julimar project is generating a lot of interest in the Western Yilgarn as a new province for nickel and PGE. Already, the Companies’ strategic alliance is bearing fruit as we streamline our exploration activity to target potential new discoveries in this exciting region.”

Data supplied to the exploration group by Mercator shows an extensive copper-gold-PGE anomaly in shallow vacuum drilling on the western flank of the Coates Mafic Intrusive Complex.

The original target of this shallow drilling was bauxite, or alumina mineralisation in the near surface environment, however a reinterpretation of the data shows a broad 2km anomaly along the contact between the country rock and the intrusion itself - a prime location for a nickel-PGE discovery.

The anomaly is highlighted by the presence of key pathfinder elements for nickel-PGE sulphide bodies including intriguing levels of copper, platinum, palladium and gold – this anomaly has yet to be followed up with deeper drill testing into bedrock.

Presently the exploration group is working with the WA Government and local stakeholders to put in place the appropriate regulatory approvals for exploration throughout the region, which includes land-owner access agreements and a conservation plan.

Preliminary exploration work is continuing over the project area with geophysical modelling now underway which will assist in targeting the planned mapping, sampling, geophysical and drilling programs over the coming months.

With an extensive nickel-PGE target already jumping out from historical work, Lithium Australia and its partners are off to a flying start at Wundowie and given the recent discovery down the road at Chalice’s Julimar, this might actually start to get interesting.

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