Wildcat is one of the most interesting small cap lithium stories on the ASX. Now it’s time to deliver with the drill bit

WC8 has rerated heavily since buying the Tabba Tabba lithium asset in May
Now the pressure is on for WC8 to deliver with the drill bit – 2 rigs now onsite, a 3rd rig will arrive end of September
Initial results due out by mid-September

Now defunct Pancontinental Mining’s tantalum portfolio in the 1980’s included four projects: Pilgangoora, Wodgina, Yinnetharra, and Tabba Tabba.

Pilgangoora and Wodgina are now monster hard rock lithium mines.

Yinnetharra, being aggressively drilled by Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI), is a potential tier 1 project in the making.

The fourth, Tabba Tabba, is the last of those projects to be tested for lithium.

In May, this project was acquired by minnow Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8).

It includes mining leases – important if you want to get into production quickly — large areas of outcropping pegmatites, and a high-grade 318,000t at 950ppm Ta2O5 tantalum deposit.

Being a tantalum asset means lithium assays are limited, but there are some nice hits like 8m at 1.42% Li2O from 4m for WC8 to follow up.

Meanwhile, a few hundred metres away, mining major FMG (ASX:FMG) has surreptitiously drilled out a 10Mt-15Mt resource.

The one FMG drillhole available via the Department of Mines database was ~39m at 1.3-1.4%, WC8 says.

The Tabba Tabba footprint compares very favourably with the FMG resource next door.

“[FMG’s] is about 1km long. Their outcropping pegmatite is about 200m long and 60m wide,” managing director Sam Ekins told Stockhead on the sidelines of Diggers & Dealers.

“Our outcrop is over 3.2km,” he says.

“Tabba Tabba is substantially larger, with substantially more outcrop.”

The market loves the story. WC8 has surged from 3c to ~20c since the deal was done.

Now the pressure is on for WC8 to deliver with the drill bit.

“We have drilled 30 holes to date, and we are bringing on a second rig next week,” Ekins says.

“We will have one rig infill drilling, and another scouting the 3.2km of outcropping pegmatite.

“We hope to bring a diamond rig on end of September.”

We asked what WC8 is seeing from the initial drilling that makes it confident enough to bring on extra rigs.

“We can’t comment on that, but we are encouraged enough to bring a second rig on,” Ekins says.

“We are hoping to have initial results out by mid-September.”

WC8 would like to push out a resource at Tabba Tabba, ideally sometime next year.

“This would enable us to take advantage of the mining leases and get into production quickly,” Ekins says.

“We have a lot of options for toll treating, because we are only 67km from Pilgangoora and 97km from Wodgina. We could do a DSO, maybe while we are building the plant.”