There’s plenty more prospective lithium pegmatite for Krakatoa to drill test at King Tamba. Pic: photosvit via Getty Images.
Hail to the King: Krakatoa extends lithium pegmatite corridor at its King Tamba project
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- Krakatoa’s geochemical sampling extends lithium pegmatite corridor at King Tamba
- High-grade lithium rock chips found within enriched zone that includes Wilsons prospect
- Drilling in November to test Wilsons, Loader and MGM prospects
Geochemical sampling has driven the lithium potential of Krakatoa’s King Tamba project in WA up to new heights by extending the prospective pegmatite corridor.
The 42km2 project is 80km northwest of Mount Magnet and within the Dalgaranga greenstone belt that contains gold mineralisation, a zinc deposit and occurrences of tantalum, beryllium, tin, tungsten, lithium and molybdenum related to pegmatites.
Krakatoa Resources (ASX:KTA) had acquired tenement P59/2082 the area covering remnant mining activities targeting tantalum, tin and lithium in 2016, before picking up the remaining four granted tenements in 2017 and 2021.
While it had defined a maiden resource of 5Mt grading 0.14% rubidium with lithium credits in March this year, subsequent exploration has really underscored the lithium potential present within the project.
Rock chip sampling identified the sub-parallel Wilsons, Loader and MGM pegmatites that are lithium-enriched over a 300m span.
Exploration also made a surprise discovery of gallium, a valuable metal used in semiconductors that has come under the spotlight due to export controls put in place by China – the world’s largest producer by an overwhelming margin.
Lithium pegmatite corridor extended
Mapping and geochemical sampling carried out since April, which collected and analysed 102 rock chip and 734 primary soil samples, has now identified a 1.3km by 0.5km mineralised zone enriched in lithium-caesium-rubidium-beryllium with elevated tantalum and niobium.
This enriched zone sits within a broader 3km long LCT corridor with Krakatoa saying that all the high-grade lithium rock chips identified to date are found within the enriched target zone, which includes the Wilsons prospect.
Rock chips at Wilsons – where a continuous outcrop/subcrop spanning about 250m has been identified – had returned up to 4.3% Li2O, 1.7% rubidium and 0.5% caesium.
“The multi-element soil results reinforce the prospectivity at King Tamba,” chief executive officer Mark Major said.
“We are now starting to understand the geochemical and mineral nature of the pegmatites systems on show here.”
With the heritage survey checked off the to-do list, executive chair Mark Major told Stockhead the best is yet to come.
“We look forward to drilling out the high-grade rock chip zones in early November. Hopefully this will result in Christmas cheer for our shareholders,” he explained.
Plan ahead
Krakatoa is preparing to carry out a 1200m drill program over the Wilsons, Loader and MGM prospects in November.
All three prospects have previously returned high grade lithium rock chip results.
The company may also carry out an extensive costeaning program over the enriched soil target zone once regulatory approval is secured.
This article was developed in collaboration with Krakatoa Resources, 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.
