Octava Minerals has agreed to sell 100 per cent of its Talga gold, base metals and lithium project in WA’s Pilbara to Global Lithium for $200,000 in cash and a further $200,000 by way of Global Lithium stock.
Global Lithium will acquire Octava’s seven Talga project tenements though a 100 per cent owned subsidiary with the share consideration based on its 5-day VWAP prior to completion.
The sale will free-up Octava to focus on its Yallalong antimony project and the Byro rare earths project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region.
Importantly, Octava’s new shareholding in Global Lithium will ensure the company remains exposed to any upside from the proximity of Global’s Marble Bar gold project to its newly-acquired extensive soil-gold geochemical anomaly originally defined by Octava.
The combined prospective landholdings could breathe more life into the 12km trend of soil-gold anomalism which now runs from Razorback at Talga - where it is spatially associated with a highly-altered granite - to Global’s Twin Peaks and Douglas Find prospects.
While Talga holds potential for intrusion-related gold and orogenic lode gold deposits and also lithium, an additional arrow in the company’s quiver is the possibility of a base metals discovery.
The Talga project covers prospective and mineralised Archaean greenstone /granite terranes typical of the Pilbara and several gold and base metals targets have been identified which show encouraging signs of mineralisation.
Octava says the Bamboo Creek gold deposit, 15km to the east of its tenure and the Warrawoona gold mine 40km to the south are both located within the same greenstone stratigraphy as greenstones within the Talga ground.
Octava’s Managing Director Bevan Wakelam said: “The transaction provides the best opportunity for unlocking potential gold and base metal resources at Talga by combining the two adjoining highly prospective areas, while retaining an interest via our shareholding. Combining the two landholdings creates a 12km trend of anomalous gold in soils running from Razorback at Talga west to the Twin Veins and Douglas Find prospects held by Global.”
Global Lithium’s executive chairman, Ron Mitchell, said its acquisition of the Talga ground offers a low-risk, cost-efficient opportunity for the company to expand its exposure to gold and base metals within a highly prospective region.
Meanwhile Octava is already drilling at Yallalong to test antimony targets at its Discovery and Central prospects and expects to drill its No. 4 and North targets in the new year.
A 3000m reverse circulation (RC) drilling program is targeting high grade antimony at the Discovery prospect, where previous third party drilling recorded antimony intercepts over a strike length of about 300m and remains open.
Results include a 7m intercept in one old hole going 3.27 per cent antimony from 12m, including 1m at 11.5 per cent antimony from 18m.
A second hole at Discovery gave up 3m running 6.83 per cent antimony from 21m, including 1m assaying 13.6 per cent antimony from 22m.
At Byro, core drilling is in train to provide samples for metallurgical recovery tests.
The company acquired 100 per cent of Byro Mining at the beginning of the year, giving the company control over the Byro rare earths and lithium project on the Byro Plains in WA’s Gascoyne region. The acquisition reflects Octava’s sharpened focus on “new energy” metals.
The company’s previous work has already identified metal concentrations in the Permian black shales within the Byro sub-basin, including thick and laterally extensive lithium occurrences and anomalous rare earth elements.
Octava appears refreshed by the transaction and raring to go on its new targets, buoyed by a bit of extra cash and the promise of ongoing exposure to Global Lithium’s future successes.
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By Doug Bright
