- New pegmatites identified at the Western Shaw project
- Steve Promnitz-led QXR has four hard rock lithium projects in the Pilbara
- Notable neighbours include Mineral Resources, Pilbara Minerals and Global Lithium
QX Resources has identified multiple new pegmatites – the host rock for lithium mineralisation – at its Western Shaw lithium project in the Pilbara region of WA, a prime location for hard rock discoveries.
Multiple pegmatites were identified and sampled in the west and south of the company’s Western Shaw leases, with encouraging lithium results from mobile XRF analysis.
Western Shaw is just one of QX Resources’ (ASX:QXR) four large project areas, which also include Spilt Rock, Yule River and Turner River, with a combined size of more than 350km2.
“Multiple new targets are being generated with initial work yielding encouraging results, especially around identified pegmatites,” MD Steve Promnitz said.
“We are keen to advance exploration promptly.”
Rockchip sampling over outcropping pegmatites is now underway across all four project areas.
Pilbara: the hard rock lithium capital of the world
Rock chip sampling is targeting the ‘contact zone’ between greenstones and granitoids known to be associated with the lithium mineralisation of the so-called Split Rock Supersuite.
The world-class Albemarle and Mineral Resources’ (ASX:MIN) Wodgina lithium mine, Pilbara Minerals’ (ASX:PLS) Pilgangoora mine and Global Lithium’s (ASX:GL1) deposits are all associated with the Split Rock Supersuite.
“The Pilbara continues to be reaffirmed as the prime location globally for major lithium hard rock discoveries and QXR hold favourable ground in the heart of the Pilbara,” Promnitz said.
At Turner River, just 15km from Wodgina, the company is planning detailed airborne geophysics over the project in the next two weeks, where they’ve identified a ‘significant’ lithium mineralisation halo.
The data will be merged with district scale geophysics and detailed spectral image analysis to differentiate favourable areas around pegmatites.
Extensive trenching and sampling is also planned once initial sample results have been confirmed, prior to any follow up drilling.
Picking up a lithium brine project in the US
QXR is also in the midst of due diligence as it looks to potentially acquire the the Liberty Lithium brine project in California, which it says boasts similar characteristics to Albermarle’s producing Silver Peak lithium brine deposit nearby as well as to well known Argentina brine projects.
Large volume resampling of lithium brines near surface has returned almost 200mg/L lithium, with values from 186-195mg/L lithium, supporting previous anomalous results over a distance of 10km.
Future downhole drill results could be better, the company says, with drilling being the next step, pending the outcome of final discussions and due diligence.
By having both hard rock and brine, QXR has two different timelines to development, with hard rock able to be brought into production in less than three years whereas brine projects can be larger but take longer – around 5-7 years – to come online.
This article was developed in collaboration with QX Resources Limited 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.