Aruma Resources has returned high-grade lithium and rubidium results from a surface rock chip sampling program at its fully owned Mt Deans lithium project in south-eastern WA.
A total of 11 samples were taken along a 500m strike following the company’s maiden drilling program at the site in February.
Results included high-grade lithium of up to 1.96 per cent lithium oxide and very high-grade rubidium of up to 1.42 per cent rubidium oxide.
Cesium values of up to 1550 parts-per-million were also recorded.
The rock chip sampling program was designed to test for strike extensions to the interpreted pegmatite zone at Mt Deans that has a strike length of at least 1500m.
Aruma Resources Managing Director, Peter Schwann said: “Our initial drilling represented just the start of exploration at the project and based on the results, we moved quickly to undertake the surface sampling to investigate strike variations in grades. The high-grade lithium and rubidium rock chip results from the Mt Deans pegmatite is highly encouraging, and our upcoming drilling will seek to deliver further validation of Mt Deans’ potential as a valuable multi-metal asset.”
In April, the maiden drilling intersected lithium grades up to 1.14 per cent lithium oxide in a 25 metres thick vertical pegmatite with a strike interpreted at more than 1500m.
Best results included 10m at 0.62 per cent lithium oxide with 0.57 per cent rubidium oxide and 7m grading 0.76 per cent lithium oxide with 0.69 per cent rubidium oxide.
The company says pegmatites were intercepted in all 13 holes drilled to date with one near-surface hit displaying a 25m thick vertical body from just 17m downhole.
Aruma says it is now making plans to complete the remaining 1800m at Mt Deans across 12 holes as a priority.
According to the company, the lithium corridor in south-east WA hosts multiple significant hard-rock lithium projects including Mt Marion, Bald Hill and Buldania. Aruma says Mount Deans is located within the same host rocks and structures as the other lithium deposits.
The site is approximately 170km south of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and about 10km south of the mining town of Norseman.
Rubidium is used in solar panels, fibre optic cables, GPS systems, night vision equipment and sodium-ion batteries.
A 2022 report by the International Energy Agency suggests meeting future climate stabilisation goals will see a quadrupling or more in mineral requirements, with lithium predicted to experience the fastest growth in demand.
Geoscience Australia says WA has nearly all the nation’s lithium resources, with the remainder attributed to the NT.
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By Matt Birney
