Lithium Australia Progressing Strategic Investment In Charger Metals

Maintains Battery Minerals Interest With Exploration Projects

Lithium Australia NL (ASX: LIT) has reported significant progress on its joint-venture agreement with Charger Metals NL, originally announced in December 2020.

Lithium Australia Managing Director, Adrian Griffin, said Charger progressing towards its initial public offering (IPO) on the ASX.

Lithium Australia retains a 30% interest in the exploration projects, free carried to the definitive feasibility study notice, and will be the major shareholder in Charger.

Charger has an option until September 4, 2021, to acquire company exploration projects that include:

• The Coates project in the highly prospective Western Yilgarn nickel/ copper/platinum group elements belt, close to Chalice Mining Ltd’s Julimar discovery north of Perth;
• The Lake Johnston project, near Southern Cross in Western Australia, prospective for lithium, gold and nickel; and
• The Bynoe project, near Darwin in the Northern Territory, prospective for lithium and gold.

Coates project

The Coates Mafic Intrusive Complex lies about 28 km southeast of the recent nickel/copper/platinum group elements (Ni-Cu-PGE’) discovery at the Julimar project of Chalice Mining Ltd, which is developing rapidly as drilling progresses and has attracted significant interest in this new exploration province.

Lithium Australia’s Coates project exhibits geology similar to the Chalice discovery, with geochemistry results from an adjacent tenement returning encouraging Ni, Cu, PGE and gold anomalies, which few previous explorers successfully identified, providing the motivation to further explore this target.

Bynoe project

The Bynoe lithium and gold project tenement (EL30897) is surrounded by the extremely large tenement holdings comprising Core Lithium Ltd’s Finnis lithium project, reported as having a total mineral resource inventory of 14.7 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.32% lithium oxide (Li2O), of which 7.6 Mt are in the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource category. Finnis is at a very advanced stage of development, with a definitive feasibility study completed in April 2019.

Lake Johnston project

Reconnaissance geological mapping and geochemical sampling have identified a number of lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites, and the discovery of a spodumene pegmatite cluster at Bontempelli Hill near Lake Medcalf in Western Australia.

The Bontempelli Hill outcrops consist of stacked pegmatites containing ~20-30% spodumene. Rock-chip samples from the pegmatite dyke swarm average 3.6% Li2O, with up to a maximum 7.15% Li2O from spodumene outcrop. The mineralised pegmatites at this prospect outcrop over an area of 450 x 250 metres (‘m’). Soil sampling and geology indicate possible extensions to the southeast under adjacent cover. Individual dykes range from about 20 to 120 m in length and 1 to 5 m in thickness.

There has been no drilling on any of the lithium targets.

“The company retains significant exposure to battery minerals and potential supply solutions while maintaining a focus on its core business – that of ensuring an ethical and sustainable supply of energy metals to the battery industry via the creation of a circular battery economy,” Mr Griffin said.