Everyone else seems to be finding lithium... Pic: Getty
Matador comes up empty handed in lithium hunt at Pyramid Hill
Mining
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Matador Mining has hit a duster at its Pyramid Hill project in Western Australia.
Results from recent sampling did not contain any “significant levels” of lithium, tantalum, tin or tungsten, Matador (ASX:MZZ) said.
Investors did not like the news, with shares dropping 10 per cent to 27c by midday before recovering slightly to 28c.
Matador lit up the boards of the ASX on March 8 after completing an initial public offering of $3.35 million.
The company has performed quite well since its debut, with shares peaking at 35c in mid-October — recovering from a low of 19c in late June.
Besides the Pyramid Hill project, the company owns four other projects considered prospective for gold and copper.
Historical exploration in the Pyramid Hill region has largely been focused on uranium mineralisation with limited work conducted on other industrial metals including lithium, tantalum and tungsten.
Matador collected a total of 24 samples from the project area and had them assayed primarily for lithium, tantalum, tin and tungsten.
However, the results showed tin, tantalum and tungsten of less than 0.01 per cent and lithium of 0.5 parts per million to 206 parts per million. Twenty one of the samples contained less than 30 parts per million, or 0.003 per cent lithium.
The typical grade of hard rock mines, the more common source of lithium in Australia, is between 0.9 and 1.6 per cent.
Matador is now deciding whether it will continue with exploration at the Pyramid Hill project.
The company has been contacted for comment.
