Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) has entered into a binding Tenement Sale and Purchase Agreement with Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of gold producer Newmont Corporation, to acquire the Shoobridge Project (EL31407) in Australia.
The Project is located approximately 80km south-southeast of the company’s 100%- owned Finniss Lithium Project near Darwin in the Northern Territory. Completion of the sale and purchase of the Shoobridge Project is subject to NT Ministerial consent.
The Shoobridge Project is located in the Pine Creek Orogen in the NT and lies within the Tipperary pegmatite district, including the Shoobridge pegmatite field and the Plateau Point pegmatite field. The Shoobridge pegmatites have been exploited for their tin and tantalum and are the site of the first discovery of tin-bearing pegmatites in the NT in 1882.
Importantly, the pegmatites are considered analogous to those in the Bynoe pegmatite district and are therefore complementary to the Company’s lithium portfolio in the Northern Territory.
Managing Director, Stephen Biggins, said Core will be the first company to explore and drill these prospective, potentially lithium-rich pegmatite systems for economic spodumene lithium mineralisation.
Mr Biggins said this was a strategic acquisition with exploration upside that would complement Core’s existing lithium projects in the NT.
“While we are firmly focussed on developing the Finniss Lithium Project, we are excited by projects such as Shoobridge that provide synergies and complementary lithium growth opportunities.
“The expected increases in resources from this deal and our well-funded resource drill programmes at Finniss this year should provide a strong platform for extending and expanding lithium production from the project as lithium prices continue to rise.”
Previous Work
Despite a long recorded history of exploration in the Shoobridge area, little of it has focussed on lithium. In the north of the Shoobridge Project area, tin was discovered at the Old Company mine in 1882, along with several other occurrences, including the Barrett’s workings.
The Barrett’s pegmatite occurs over a strike of at least 210m and thickness of around 10m, but most of the old shafts, costeans, and pits are less than 7m deep.
Barretts is just one of a swarm of pegmatites that occurs over a known strike length of 2.5km, which tracks an anticlinal fold hinge and fault zone, and spatially overlaps with orogenic gold-bearing quartz veins in the area.
In 2001, Julia Corporation Ltd drilled 40 RC holes on 14 traverses at Barretts and announced a significant tantalite and tin occurrence.
Core has not yet obtained this data but considers that it is unlikely that drilling tested the prospective fresh pegmatite, nor that lithium was assayed.
In 2005, Altura undertook broad spaced soil sampling in the Barretts area and identified an anomalous lithium zone of at least 500m long, which is not believed to have been followed up with drilling.
Also evident within the Shoobridge Project area is the Two Bobs pegmatite within the Plateau Point pegmatite field. This pegmatite occurs as a broad sheet or swarm, interlayered with country rock, but over a significant width of about 110m and strike of around 3.3km. This pegmatite swarm is likely sourced from the nearby Fenton Granite.
Soils collected over Two Bobs by Haddington Resources Ltd showed lower tenor than Barretts, although lithium, caesium and rubidium were able to define the pegmatite trend.
On completion of the transaction, Core will look to drill these pegmatites, targeting below the depth of oxidation.
For further information please visit: https://corelithium.com.au/
