Soil geochemistry at Lithium Australia’s (ASX:LIT) Lake Johnston JV Project confirms large lithium system - Kalkine Media

Highlights

• LIT’s JV partner has wrapped up a soil geochemistry program over the Lake Johnston Lithium Project.
• Soil sampling has identified three lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite target zones along a 50km-long corridor.
• The JV partners plan an RC drilling campaign over the Medcalf Spodumene prospect early in 2023.

Perth-based Lithium Australia Limited (ASX:LIT) has welcomed an upbeat update from its exploration partner concerning the completion of a soil geochemistry program on the Lake Johnston Lithium Project in Western Australia.

Lithium prospects occur within a 50km-long corridor along the southern and western margins of the granite batholith at Lake Johnston.

LIT’s exploration partner recently performed a major 7,116 sites soil geochemical sampling program over the tenement area. The Medcalf Spodumene Prospect and the Mt Day LCT (lithium-caesium-tantalum) pegmatite field are the two most prospective areas on the Lake Johnston Project.   

LIT holds a 30% interest in the project while the majority 70% interest is owned by ASX-listed mineral explorer Charger Metals NL (ASX:CHR). 

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Prospects and mineral occurrence locations on Lake Johnston Project (Image source: Company update, 9 June 2022)

Geochemical sampling program on Medcalf and Mt Day

The Medcalf Prospect was discovered during the reconnaissance fieldwork of 2018 and 2019.

The latest geochemical program on the prospect extended the halo of the lithium-in-soil geochemical anomaly further north. The extended area contains pegmatite-derived sands and minor outcrops, which suggests the possibility of a sub-parallel zone to the northeast of the main Medcalf pegmatite swarm.

The JV partners plan a 40-hole RC drilling campaign on Medcalf Spodumene Prospect to test the pegmatites. The proposed drilling campaign is scheduled for the March quarter of 2023.

The sampling program on the Medcalf prospect indicates a spodumene pegmatite cluster in a 500m long and 300m wide corridor. The rock chip assay results returned pegmatite values in the range of 1.51% and 5.13% Li₂O.

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Map showing pegmatite, soil sample and rock chip locations on Medcalf prospect

(Image source: Company update, 9 June 2022)

The soil samples from the vicinity of the Mt Day pegmatite field returned geochemical responses that most likely represent LCT-pegmatites. More than 6,000 samples were taken from the northern Lake Johnston Project tenement group.

The samples were first analysed by the portable XRF machine by Portable Spectral Services Pty Ltd. The commercial service provider then calculated a Lithium Index Value of the samples that may aid in identifying fertile LCT pegmatites quickly. This can help in expediting the exploration cycle.

For conventional analysis of lithium in the soil samples, over 1,100 samples have been sent to a commercial laboratory.

Map showing named and mapped pegmatites over Mt Day Prospect (Image source: Company update, 9 June 2022)

Share price: LIT shares traded at AU$0.082 apiece on 9 June 2022. The Company has a market cap of AU$84.90 million.