- St George Mining has identified multiple new lithium targets following a project wide review by ERM
- Four gold targets coincident with lithium have also been outlined
- Drilling will be carried out on the new targets in the second half of the year
Special report: Multiple new lithium targets have been identified at SGQ’s Mt Alexander project in WA’s Yilgarn Craton following a project wide review of lithium prospectivity by external consulting firm ERM.
St George Mining’s (ASX:SGQ) Mt Alexander project, 120km south-west of the Agnew-Wiluna belt, abuts the Mt Bevan joint venture between Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, Legacy Iron Ore (ASX:LCY) and Hawthorn Resources (ASX: HAW) and neighbours Delta Lithium’s (ASX:DLI) 14.6Mt Mt Ida resource.
Drilling in late 2022 and early 2023 confirmed the presence of lithium mineralisation down to 300m grading up to 1.8% Li2O.
Recent surface sampling has since uncovered large-scale lithium soil anomalies with corresponding anomalous values of caesium and tantalum – key pathfinder elements for potential lithium mineralisation.
The largest anomaly boasts a strike length of more than 2.7km while a second sits along the contact of the Copperfield Granite, a favourable geological setting for lithium mineralisation and a direct analogue to DLI’s Mt Ida project, less than 300m from the contact.
Lithium findings lay groundwork for drilling
Targeting work with external consultants ERM has focused on finding the most likely areas with potential for lithium mineralisation through the recording of potassium (K) and rubidium (Rb) values of feldspar within outcropping pegmatites using a portable XRF analyser.
Generally, the lower the K:Rb ratio within feldspar, the more fractionated and prospective the pegmatite. A K:Rb ratio of less than 30 is considered to reflect potential for spodumene formation.
Around 323 samples were collected across the project area with K:Rb ratios ranging from more than 80 to less than 10.
SGQ says a clear trend from a high K:Rb ratio can be seen from north to south, indicating several areas with potential for stronger lithium mineralisation.
The K:Rb ratio results also support promising lithium soil anomalies seen in the recent soil survey where several priority targets were generated.
Several new target areas identified by ERM and by soil sampling have not been drill tested to date.
Gold targets prioritised for upcoming drilling
These recent surveys have also been assessed for all commodities including gold.
Results have shown several prominent gold anomalies coincident with lithium anomalies, SGQ says, a common occurrence across Western Australia for high-grade lithium mineralisation with numerous lithium discoveries alongside historic gold projects – including Delta Lithium’s Mt Ida, which sits 15km south of Mt Alexander.
A maximum value of 180 ppb gold was reported from 1,077 total samples, which is considered highly anomalous when combined with the presence of several pathfinder elements including arsenic, silver, bismuth, cobalt, copper, nickel, and tungsten.
An assay of 4 g/t gold was also returned in rock chip.
Importantly, SGQ says several anomalous gold values are coincident with major structures and have been prioritised for the next Mt Alexander drill program.
Four key standout targets
“Four areas standout as priority targets across our large landholding,” SGQ executive chairman John Prineas says.
“This is an exciting development in lithium targeting at Mt Alexander and we look forward to drilling these targets in the second half of the year.”
This article was developed in collaboration with St George 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.