Golden State Mining has made a successful start to formal exploration at its Paynes Find lithium project. Pic via Getty Images
Golden State Mining returns up to 0.9% lithium from rock chip sampling at Paynes Find
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- Positive start to ‘preliminary’ exploration campaign for new lithium opportunity identified at Paynes Find North
- Strong rubidium anomalism also identified at Paynes Find Central project area
- GSM funded for next year’s proposed maiden lithium-oriented drilling program thanks to recent $1.5 million capital raising
Special Report: Golden State Mining has made a successful start to formal exploration over its “self-generated” Paynes Find lithium project.
Traditionally a hotspot for gold explorers, Paynes Find has emerged as a potential new lithium province after Golden State Mining (ASX:GSM) identified a series of outcropping pegmatites on its +1,300km2 ground package.
Assay results have been received for 18 rock chip samples collected from a range of pegmatite outcrops at the Paynes Find North and Paynes Find Central project areas in Western Australia’s Murchison region.
Samples were collected from a recent reconnaissance mapping exercise which highlighted anomalous lithium, rubidium, caesium and other lithium pathfinder elements in soils.
GSM described the sampling as “preliminary” with more comprehensive work to follow in the coming weeks.
Lithium to the north, but mostly rubidium in the centre
At Paynes Find North, assay results for rock chip samples returned “significant” lithium, rubidium and caesium values, along with elevated tantalum and niobium.
The best result was an assay approaching ore grade of 4,170ppm lithium (0.9% Li2O), 2,650ppm rubidium (0.29% Rb2O) and 178ppm caesium. This sample was collected from a weathered pegmatite sub-crop approximately 3m wide.
Another sample collected about 20m away recorded 486ppm lithium (0.1% Li2O), 1,420ppm rubidium (0.16% Rb2O) and 112ppm caesium.
At Paynes Find Central, anomalous and elevated rubidium was recorded in the majority of samples, with the most significant result being 1,060ppm (0.12% Rb2O).
Building a ‘robust’ target footprint for drilling
Target generation for a maiden lithium-focused drilling campaign at the Paynes Find project is well advanced, according to the company, with detailed field mapping and a more extensive rock chip sampling program to start next month.
Last week, GSM raised $1.5 million via an oversubscribed placement to fund its upcoming exploration ambition at Paynes Find, including a proposed AC/RC drilling program of up to 8,000m, beginning in Q1 2024.
GSM managing director Michael Moore was delighted with the promising start to lithium exploration at Paynes Find, about 30km north of the township which shares the project’s name.
“Despite the very limited fieldwork coverage thus far, GSM has already validated its original targeting criteria at the Paynes Find lithium project – a self-generated asset in the greater Murchison region of Western Australia,” Moore said.
“These encouraging results come from a recent field trip which identified outcropping pegmatites and further enhanced the prospectivity of the project. This date provides the basis for a robust drilling campaign in 2024.
“GSM looks forward to carrying out further fieldwork during this quarter, assisting drill-hole placement, target vectoring and updating shareholders as work progresses.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Golden State Mining, 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.
