Summit Minerals is putting boots on the ground at its Phillips River lithium project. Pic: via Getty Images.
Could a thin layer of cover be concealing a lithium payday at Summit’s Phillips River?
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- Summit Minerals set to start soil sampling at its Phillips River lithium project, near Allkem’s Mt Cattlin mine
- Ultrafine soils program will cover areas outside proposed auger drilling area
- Results will be used to identify high-priority targets ahead of potential drilling in 2024
Special Report: Summit Minerals is poised to commence a geochemical soil survey to define potential pegmatite-hosted lithium mineralisation at its Phillips River project in southwestern WA.
Phillips River comprises two exploration tenements covering 45km2 just 2.5km southwest of Bulletin Resources’ (ASX:BNR) recent lithium discovery at the Ravensthorpe project where rock chips returned high-grade spodumene grading up to 7.04% Li2O.
It is also 20km south of Allkem’s (ASX:AKE) Mt Cattlin lithium operations.
And yet – despite containing the same rock sequence that hosts spodumene-bearing pegmatites at Mt Cattlin — little historical lithium exploration has been completed at Summit Minerals’ (ASX:SUM) project due to a layer of transported cover, which conceals the location of potential orebodies.
Jumping into exploration
The company is now bringing exploration into the forefront with an early stage soil sampling program, which will cover several intrusive bodies interpreted from the company’s high-resolution magnetic survey.
Results from the survey will enable SUM to identify high-priority targets and enable a potential drill campaign in 2024.
The ultrafine soils program will cover areas outside the proposed auger drilling program and assist in identifying targets.
“We are pleased to commence the geochemical soils program at our Phillips River lithium project,” chief executive officer Gower He said.
“The region is highly prospective for multiple commodities, including lithium and a suite of other critical minerals. This has been demonstrated by the recent exploration successes of Bulletin Resources and other existing resource companies in the region.”
Divestment considered for non-core project
Separately, the company is actively considering divestment opportunities for the Windfall antimony project after recognising that it is non-core to its strategic objectives.
It has decided not to commit further resources to this project other than to maintain the tenements in good standing.
This article was developed in collaboration with Summit Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
