Chart topping Li grades are the keys to proving up Scorpion’s Youanmi. People: Alicia Keys. Getty Images.
SCN releases visual confirmation of spodumene – drilling has confirmed shallow mineralisation
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- Infill drilling continues to prove up high grade lithium up to 2.66% along 3km of strike at Youanmi
- Shallow dipping, peggie hosted mineralisation remains open
- Drilling continues, Scorpion close to a maiden MRE
Scorpion Minerals’ recently completed infill drill program keeps returning thick, high-grade lithium intercepts as it progresses towards a maiden mineral resource estimate at Youanmi.
Scorpion Minerals (ASX:SCN) has more to show for its efforts with new infill drilling results showing intervals grading up to 2.66%. Infill, or closer spaced drilling is used to establish or increase confidence in a JORC resource.
The drill campaign to-date continues to demonstrate high-grade lithium mineralisation hosted by shallow, east-dipping LCT pegmatites along a 3km strike length that extend below surface to a minimum of 175m.
17 holes were infilled in this latest round of drilling for 2,202m, confirming the continuity of thick lithium mineralisation to at least 175m depth.
Some of the pegmatites encountered are up to 1km long and the surface exposures suggest widths from 5-15m, with mineralisation intersected up to 14m thick, Scorpion says.
Based on the intersection angle of the drilling with the modelled pegmatites, downhole widths are interpreted to be close to true widths.
Significant intercepts from the final batch of assays include:
- 14m @ 1.50% Li2O, 64ppm Ta2O5 and 42ppm Nb2O5 from 126m in hole SYRC037,
- 4m @ 1.38% Li2O, 107ppm Ta2O5 and 52ppm Nb2O5 from 20m in hole SYRC038,
- 4m @ 1.35% Li2O, 64ppm Ta2O5 and 54ppm Nb2O5 from 47m in SYRC036,
- and 5m @ 0.94% Li2O, 93ppm Ta2O5 and 67ppm Nb2O5 from 105m in SYRC039.
As a general rule, ore grade lithium can be anywhere between 0.8% and 1.5%.
Maiden resource would put Scorpion in rarefied air
There are hundreds of ASX lithium explorers on the ASX, but only a handful have actually released a resource.
Scorpion’s 177km2 Youanmi in the east Murchison region of WA is in good company with other explorers across the pegmatite corridor including Metals Australia’s (ASX:MLS) Manindi and Venus Metals’ (ASX:VMC) Youanmi projects.
“Further outstanding results from our infill drilling at Youanmi which continue to provide the necessary technical data as we move confidently towards establishing our maiden JORC resource at the project,” SCN CEO Michael Fotios says.
“We continue to be encouraged by the fact that mineralisation remains open in all directions, so we are confident that we will be able to grow the mineralisation footprint with additional drilling.”
Drilling to continue
Edging ever closer to a maiden MRE, the explorer is going back to the RC drill bit to test existing targets down dip and along strike to further determine the extent and composition of mineralisation at the project.
Follow-up geological mapping and rock chip sampling is also underway, while SCN also considers high resolution air photography and an initial diamond drilling campaign.
“The next phase of drilling will continue to test down dip on these sections to systematically infill intervening sections along an initial 1000m of strike,” Fotios says.
“Youanmi continues to tick all the necessary boxes at this early stage, and we look forward to reporting further updates on progress from across the business over the coming weeks.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Scorpion Minerals, 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.
