Oceana basks in the sun as drilling intercepts stacked pegmatites at Solonópole

Maiden scout drilling has provided the first indications that a stacked lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite system is indeed present at the Bom Jesus de Baixo prospect within Oceana’s Solonópole project in Brazil.

The recently completed Phase 1 drill program across the BJdB Pit, BJdB Central and BJdB East targets within the prospect intercepted multiple thick pegmatites within the prospect with individual intervals of up to 16m and combined intervals of up to 20m.

Notably, all 14 holes (totalling 1,035m) intersected pegmatites, with Oceana Lithium (ASX:OCN) noting that the pegmatite bodies remain open at depth and along strike, a clear sign that any success will have plenty of potential for follow-up.

Provisional logging results have confirm the presence of a stacked lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite system and while assay results are still pending, spodumene and lepidolite – returning assays of up to 3.61% and 3.16% lithium respectively – have previously been confirmed from grab-sampling within the Bom Jesus de Baixo pit walls.

Senior exploration geologist James Abson said that the drill program is now ahead of schedule after initial teething problems caused by rain events and that the thickness of pegmatites intersected at all three targets was encouraging.

“The next phase of the drilling program has commenced to test other promising targets identified from soil sampling conducted earlier this year. With our field teams trained and in place and a drill rig mobilised at site, the project is entering an exciting phase,” he added.

The 124km2 Solonópole project area features about 17km of intermittent outcropping lithium-bearing pegmatites and covers historical artisanal mining sites that were previously mined for lithium, coltan (tantalum and niobium) and tin.

Current and upcoming work

Besides the ongoing Phase 2 scout drilling program, which will test three other pegmatite outcrop targets as well as pegmatite targets coinciding with soil anomalies elsewhere at the project, the company has also brought an ultraviolet lamp and portable XRF scanner on site to assist with the identification of pegmatite intercepts.

While no replacement for assays, the ultraviolet lamp, which identifies spodumene from its orange-pink fluorescence, and XRF scanner will help identify pegmatite intercepts as well as lithium and lithium-pathfinder mineralisation.

Oceana has also completed a RTK drone survey to provide an accurate Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and high resolution orthomosaic photograph of the drilled-out area. This surficial information will be utilised for 3D modelling.

Planning is underway for trial hyperspectral remote sensing surveys and high-resolution magnetics and radiometrics geophysics surveys.

The company will also start planning for infill drilling in the BJdB area to test the down-dip and along-strike potential of the identified pegmatites once first pass results are received.

This article was developed in collaboration with Oceana 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.