Battery metals specialist Askari Metals Limited (ASX:AS2) has commenced a detailed field exploration sampling campaign at the 100% owned Barrow Creek Lithium Project located in the Arunta Pegmatite Province of Central Northern Territory, Australia.
During an initial reconnaissance programme completed by the company, a number of samples were collected from pegmatites that were outcropping across an area measuring 950m x 500m, remaining open in all directions.
Results from the recent Hyperspectral Survey also confirmed several high-priority targets that remain untested. The high-priority targets correlate strongly with outcropping pegmatites identified during the initial reconnaissance program.
Vice President – Exploration and Geology, Johan Lambrechts, said these will be the focus of the current phase of exploration at Barrow Creek.
“We are excited to have commenced on ground field activities at the highly prospective Barrow Creek Lithium Project,” Mr Lambrechts said.
“The tenement has received minimal lithium related exploration work in the past, despite the presence of numerous historic Sn-Ta occurrences and workings nearby.
“Recent work completed by the Company identified fertile pegmatites with assay results of up to 817ppm Li2O, which certainly warrant further exploration and follow-up.
“The current field programme will consist of detailed surface mapping and sampling while the company eagerly prepares for the potential inaugural RC drilling campaign on the Barrow Creek Lithium Project.”
Field Exploration Sampling Programme
The field exploration programme will follow up on the samples that were collected during the initial reconnaissance program and systematically explore the outcropping pegmatites that have been identified.
In areas where no outcrop is visible, the technical team in the field will collect representative soil samples across those areas to accurately build a surface mineralisation model for the Barrow Creek project. The high-priority targets generated through the Hyperspectral Survey will also be sampled systematically.
Future Work
The results from the initial reconnaissance programme have verified the prospectivity and scale of the mineralising systems and represent a good foundation for future work on the Barrow Creek project.
Mr Lambrechts said an accelerated exploration programme is now underway, and the company will continue to build on these successes with further planned phases of exploration.
Future phases of exploration will include additional infill surface sampling and mapping and will culminate in the potential drill testing of the anomalous areas identified by the two field mapping/sampling phases. The work will also include petrological studies to determine the mineralogy of Lithium pegmatites.
A spatial zonation of rare-element mineralogy can be expected in this class of pegmatites and a key focus for the next phase of exploration will therefore be the drill testing of the Lithium pegmatites.
The Company is excited by the prospect of the inaugural drilling program on the Barrow Creek Lithium project.
For further information please visit: https://www.askarimetals.com/
