Octava Minerals has identified a new lithium prospect on its Talga project in Western Australia’s Pilbara. The pegmatite outcrops of various size – with the largest being 30m wide and 60m long - were located 3km from the company’s existing lithium prospect Pinnacle Well.
The newly identified “Nimerry” prospect is home to multiple potential targets and was unveiled by field reconnaissance work. The pegmatites found at Nimerry have been sent for analysis and results are expected by the end of February.
It might be early days, but the company says preliminary indications suggest Nimerry could be of a similar size to Pinnacle Well, which checks at over 1.5square kilometres of strike.
Meanwhile, assay results from 2,001 soil samples and 39 rock chips have confirmed the anomaly discovered at Pinnacle Well for Octava.
A significant number of assay results from Pinnacle Well showed 100 parts per million lithium, reaching up to a maximum 203ppm.
The company is now spoilt for choice on where to target with the data emphasising Pinnacle Well remains largely untested.
Under the previous owners, Talga started out life as a gold project. At the time of listing, CEO and managing director Bevan Wakelam said Talga was always highly prospective for lithium, but historic results of 0.22 per cent lithium weren’t followed up on as the market favoured gold at the time.
Importantly, Talga is a nearology punt on both gold and lithium and it appears to have friends in all the right places.
The Warrawoona gold mine owned by Calidus is just 40km south of Talga and Global Lithium’s Archer lithium deposit with a resource of 18 million tonnes at 1.0 per cent lithium is 10km north of Talga.
Talga is Octava’s flagship project which holds a total 211square kilometres out in WA’s Pilbara.
The company has somewhat insulated itself from rough commodity cycles by having two other projects on its books, a nickel and gold play in the East Kimberley and a nickel gold prospect called Yallalong, some 220km northeast of Geraldton.
Exposure to gold and nickel may also provide a buffer from any wild price fluctuations in the lithium market as it gives Octava other commodity projects to fall back on.
Keen to get boots and rigs on the ground, Octava will shore up some lithium targets and begin drilling at the end of the wet season.
Being out in the Pilbara gives Octava an edge should this “find” turn into another major deposit. The Pilbara has infrastructure in the right places, which means any mine can come online quicker and at a lower cost compared to other remote locations.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
