Step Aside, Arcadia: Proven mine finder Prospect makes new lithium discovery in Zimbabwe

Scout drilling at Prospect Resources’ Step Aside project flags new discovery zone, with up to 1.51% Li2O intersected
Step Aside is near the 71.7Mt Arcadia project which the company sold for US$422m last year
New discovery could be a feeder zone of spodumene mineralisation already identified
Ramped up phase 3 drilling program underway with two rigs on site

Prospect Resources has made a new lithium discovery, named ‘WinBin’, at its Step Aside project in Zimbabwe.

Prospect Resources (ASX:PSC) has previously voiced its belief that Step Aside could be within the same mineralised system as the 72.7Mt Arcadia project, which it sold to Huayou Cobalt in mid-2022 for about US$422m in cash.

Phase 2 drilling earlier this year at Step Aside – just 8km from Arcadia — returned 6.28m at 1.09% Li₂O from 67.52m. So far, the company has completed around 3,000m of a planned 5,000m diamond drilling program which is aimed at extending the limits of the identified spodumene-rich pegmatite deposits and scout exploration of key lithium soil anomaly targets.

This scout drilling has intersected visual lithium mineralisation with abundant coarse spodumene crystals evident.

Assaying has also returned a thick, shallow and high grade interval of 23.08m at 1.03% Li2O from 45m, including 11m at 1.51% Li2O from 54m.

A new spodumene feeder zone

Prospect says this represents an exciting new discovery in the ‘WinBin’ zone that was targeted for scout drilling following identified Li-in-soil anomalism and is strong proof of its targeting methodology.

The new discovery potentially represents a feeder zone for the defined spodumene mineralisation identified further to the north during the earlier phases of drilling at Step Aside.

“We are very excited by the potential of this new, buried pegmatite discovery at Step Aside,” MD and CEO Sam Hosack said.

“Prompt follow-up drilling of WinBin is underway and we look forward to rapidly advancing this new opportunity.

“I would like to congratulate the entire Prospect exploration team for their diligent work and perseverance in delivering this discovery, providing clear evidence of success of our geochemical targeting and validation of our process.”

Drilling program expanded and accelerated

The existing diamond drill hole CDD054 is currently being re-entered from its original end of hole depth at 80m, to target the interpreted extension of WinBin at depth.

In order to deliver a prompt follow-up for the strongly encouraging CDD055-056 results, Prospect has elected to expand the design of the Phase 3 drilling program – with two rigs now at site to accelerate exploration activity.

Follow-up drilling is set to include testing of the potential strike and volumetric extent of this encouraging new pegmatite discovery, the company says.

This article was developed in collaboration with Prospect Resources, 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.