Pioneer’s early field work has uncovered pegmatite outcrops with visual spodumene concentrations of up to 80%. Pic: via Getty Images.
Hit! Quick charge at Pioneer’s new Benham project pays off with discovery of 40m spodumene-bearing pegmatite
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- Pioneer Lithium finds 61 pegmatite outcrops – including a 40m long outcrop – at the recently optioned Benham project in Canada
- Visual observation of the pegmatite outcrops show coarse-grained spodumene with concentrations of up to 80%
- Rock chip samples collected and delivered to the laboratory for analysis
Special Report: The discovery of a 40m long spodumene-bearing pegmatite outcrop has validated Pioneer Lithium’s push to jump straight into exploration just days after securing an option to acquire the Benham project in Ontario, Canada.
Pioneer Lithium (ASX:PLN) – a new entrant on the ASX itself having listed only in September – had entered into an option agreement in early November for an exclusive option to acquire the Benham project.
The project is located 70km south of Critical Resources’ (ASX: CRR) Mavis Lake lithium project, which hosts over 20 lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites including a maiden Mineral Resource of 8Mt at 1.07% Li2O.
PLN moved quickly to put boots on the ground, starting field work to map pegmatite outcrops, carry out structural interpretation and collect rock chip samples for assaying to assess future drill targets within days of signing the option.
Results reinforce PLN’s rationale for acquiring Benham
PLN’s early fieldwork at the Benham project is now paying off with the discovery of 61 coarse-grained spodumene-bearing pegmatite outcrops – including the top 40m by 5m outcrop.
The mineralised outcrops host primary and accessory minerals associated with highly fractionated LCT pegmatites – a key indicator for high grades of lithium – with visible spodumene concentrations of up to 80%.
While visual observations are in no way a replacement for laboratory analysis, they do provide a useful guide of what to expect and where to narrow the search for mineralisation.
The company also collected 81 rock chips for laboratory analysis.
Adding interest, this pegmatite field is just 1.3km from spodumene-bearing pegmatite discovered at Beyond Lithium’s neighbouring Victory project.
“This is an outstanding result from the Benham project which reinforces our rationale for adding this property to our portfolio,” managing director Clinton Booth said.
“The team has done a great job to mobilise a fieldwork crew so quickly and to leverage the short available weather window to conduct this work.
“In less than three weeks since completing the transaction for this property we have put boots on ground, made this discovery of mineralised pegmatite outcropping and identified another 60 pegmatite outcrops, requiring follow-up.
“We have been able to rapidly obtain significant data to inform our next suite of activities at Benham.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Pioneer Lithium, 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.
