St George Mining says it is now one of the biggest landholders in Western Australia’s Ravensthorpe region after it was granted an additional two exploration licenses to increase the size of its Myuna Rocks project by 273 square kilometres.
The company has already identified a slew of new lithium targets at the expanded operation in a more than 50km prospective corridor along strike from Allkem’s spodumene-producing Mt Cattlin mine that sits just 5km to the south. The new tenements double the Myuna Rocks land package up to 546sq km in an area currently being explored by companies including Fortescue Metals Group, NickelSearch and Woomera Mining.
St George says a recently-completed aeromagnetic survey across the entire project has confirmed the prospectivity of the area for potential mineral deposits, with several geological and structural features identified. It includes a large, late-stage granite intrusion that extends more than 18km north-to-south, in addition to 8km east-to-west.
Management believes the granite intrusion could be the source for lithium mineralisation, potentially upgrading the existing lithium mineralisation in adjacent host rocks.
Data from the survey also identified a greenstone sequence to the west and east of the granite intrusion, which is interpreted to extend from Ravensthorpe in the south through to the Mt Cattlin mine area. Management says the greenstones are in contact with the Myuna Rocks granite and is a textbook setting for potential lithium mineralisation.
Several discrete magnetic anomalies located along the Kawana fault have also been identified and will be investigated with follow-up exploration. The recent survey was the first modern, high-resolution magnetic survey carried out over what the company describes as an underexplored project area.
A program of works for Myuna Rocks has been lodged with the Department of Energy, Mining, Industry Regulation and Safety, with plans in place to begin a maiden drill campaign at the operation as soon as next quarter.
St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said: “Importantly, Myuna Rocks covers more than 50km of a major structural corridor that hosts Mt Cattlin and extends north to IGO’s Forrestania nickel complex. We are fortunate to have more than 50km of this underexplored belt in our tenure. The results of the recent airborne magnetic survey corroborate our belief that Myuna Rocks is prospective for significant lithium mineralisation.”
Myuna Rocks is 100 per cent-owned by Lithium Star – a joint venture (JV) between St George and lithium-ion battery producer Amperex Technology – with the former holding the greater share after the two companies joined forces in October last year. Together, the two companies also hold the Split Rock, Buningonia, Buningonia North, Ten Mile West, Carnamah and Lindville projects.
The JV deal included a $3 million investment from Amperex in return for an initial 10 per cent stake in the Lithium Star group of projects.
St George also retains 100 per cent ownership of its other major projects including its flagship Mt Alexander operation, in addition to the Woolgangie, Ajana and Mt Holland sites.
After effectively doubling its tenure in the Ravensthorpe area and with an impressive producing neighbour at Mt Cattlin, the market will be keeping a close eye on what St George can uncover when it kicks off its maiden drill campaign at Myuna Rocks.
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By Michael Philipps
