Askari Metals Limited (ASX: AS2) has entered into a binding Share Sale Agreement to acquire 100% of the issued capital of Greenstone Lithium Limited.
The acquisition of Greenstone enables the Company to acquire 100% of the Hillside Lithium Project, comprised of E45/5966 (granted) and E45/6224 (application), located in the highly prospective eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Executive Director, Gino D’Anna, said the Hillside Lithium Project is considered highly prospective for Lithium-Tin-Tantalum (Li + Sn + Ta) mineralisation.
“The Hillside Lithium Project completes the company’s aggressive acquisition strategy in the eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia,” he said.
“We believe that the exploration potential of this project is significant and this is highlighted by the recent exploration success at the Tambourah Lithium Project owned by Riversgold Limited and the Tambourah North Lithium Project owned by Trek Metals Limited. This area is seeing a lot of dedicated lithium exploration and is a hive of activity. We are pleased that we can now be a part of that as well.
“The Hillside Lithium Project is also located adjacent to and along strike of the Trigg Hill and East Curlew lithium projects owned by Eastern Resources Limited. Recent exploration conducted by EFE in this area has highlighted significant LCT-type pegmatite swarms that can be clearly traced into our Hillside project.
“Strategically the Hillside project is perfectly located and is highly complementary to our existing eastern Pilbara lithium assets.
“Our strategic lithium partnership with Zhejiang Kanglongda means that we are well positioned to leverage our success in this area. We look forward to commencing our planned exploration program at the Hillside project as soon as possible.”
Exploration Potential
The exploration potential of the Hillside Lithium Project is significant given the recent exploration success in the area. Geological targeting has identified several areas of high- priority exploration zones which will be followed up in the field.
There are hundreds of pegmatite outcrops within the greenstones within the Hillside Lithium Project greenstone area. Whilst many of these are interpreted to be small to medium in size, there is significant potential for larger LCT pegmatite bodies to be identified particularly in areas of folded or faulted greenstones such as those that have been identified by Eastern Resources at the Trigg Hill Lithium Project, next door to the Hillside Lithium Project.
The pegmatites have potential for tantalum, REE, lithium and tin. The larger zoned LCT pegmatites will be more prospective for the presence of spodumene whilst lepidolite can occur in narrow dykes. Radiometric surveys (U) can also be used to locate larger tantalum pegmatites within greenstone hosts and some indications of subsurface pegmatites have already been located.
Exploration completed in the adjacent area at Trigg Hill and East Curlew by Eastern Resources Limited (EFE) has highlighted significant LCT-type pegmatite swarms that can be clearly traced on the Hillside Lithium Project
The geological “Goldilocks Zone” was also utilised as an exploration targeting method for the Hillside Lithium Project which has identified zones of priority exploration areas which would be followed up in future field visits. The zones correlate with the Greenstone units at the Hillside Lithium Project and concentrate in areas that are adjacent to and along strike of Trigg Hill and East Curlew as well as on the western side of the tenements that comprise the Hillside Lithium Project.
Due Diligence Field Exploration Campaign
As part of the due diligence evaluation of the Hillside Lithium Project, the company mobilised a team of geologists to the field to map the pegmatite exposures across the project area focusing specifically on the Greenstone lithologies. The company mapped numerous LCT-type pegmatite swarms across the project area.
As part of the initial exploration at the Hillside project, the company plans on mobilising its team into the field to conduct further mapping of the pegmatites closest to the Trigg Hill and East Curlew project areas (Eastern Resources, EFE) as well as collect rock samples of the outcrops and build a surface mineralisation model.
Follow on exploration will be dependent on the results of the initial field work, but will likely include an initial round of shallow Aircore and RC drilling. The targets at the Hillside project are clearly visible based on the exploration work that has been conducted by EFE at the neighbouring Trigg Hill and East Curlew project areas.
The Phase I exploration campaign consisting of rock sampling and mapping will be conducted shortly.
Planned Exploration
A data review aimed at informing exploration planning activities for the area will commence shortly. Initial review identified the potential for rock and soil geochemical surveys in certain areas, as well as the use of Sentinel satellite imagery to delineate target indicator minerals.
Field based activities are planned to commence upon completion of the review.
For further information please visit: https://www.askarimetals.com/
