Macarthur Minerals Limited in which REM owns an approximate 15.5% shareholding, has today told Directorstalk that it has made application for an additional exploration licence in the Eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia, expanding the size of its exploration licence applications to 1,084 square kilometres.
MACARTHUR MINERALS FURTHER EXPANDS LITHIUM PROJECTS TO OVER 1,000 SQUARE KILOMETRES
Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX-V: MMS) (the “Company” or “Macarthur Minerals”) is pleased to announce that it has made application for an additional exploration licence in the Eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia expanding the size of its exploration licence applications to 1,084 square kilometres.
The Company’s applications comprise one of the largest potential tenement packages for ‘hard rock’ lithium for a junior exploration company. The Company is the only TSX-V listed company to have potential projects for lithium in Australia.
The expansion of the Company’s tenement (applications) package is consistent with the Company’s focus on exploration of raw materials for the production of lithium-ion batteries.
New Pilbara Tenement
The location of the new Pilbara exploration licence application (E45/4732), which covers an area of 138 square kilometres is shown in Figure 1.
Like the Company’s previous applications in the Eastern Pilbara, the new application was selected based on its geological attributes compared with the currently accepted exploration model for Lithium-Caesium- Tantalum (LCT type) rare element pegmatites. The application covers an area of potential pegmatite host rock sequences (‘greenstone belts’) and is located within 5-10km of interpreted syn- to post-tectonic monzogranite intrusions, which are the expected magmatic fluid source for the pegmatites. The fertile character of the monzogranites1, and potential link to lithium mineralisation, adjacent to and within the new application is highlighted by the numerous occurrences of lithium (Li), tantalum (Ta), tin (Sn), and beryl (Be) associated with these monzogranites.
As indicated in Figure 2, the application contains similar geological settings to the Pilgangoora Li-Ta pegmatite deposits, which host the lithium projects of Australian Securities Exchange listed companies, Pilbara Minerals Limited and Altura Mining Limited.
Tenement (application) Package
The Company now holds 11 exploration licence applications covering a total area of 1,084 square kilometres across the Pilgangoora district, the Eastern Pilbara, and the Mid-West region of Western Australia. Figure 1 shows the location of those applications across the Pilbara, excluding E59/2174, which is located to the south in the Mid-West region.
Owing to the Company’s large tenement (application) package, it may seek to joint venture some of its tenements to accelerate the exploration program.
Next Steps
The Company will, with the assistance of CSA Global, initially undertake geological reconnaissance to locate outcropping pegmatites. In areas of outcrop, pegmatites, intrusives, and host rocks, will be mapped to ascertain the mineral assemblages and rockchip sampled to determine key geochemical fractionation trends and lithium contents. Areas with subcropping potential host rock units, with no evidence of surface based pegmatites, will be soil sampled to locate geochemical haloes related to lithium-bearing pegmatites. Target areas under transported cover, will require drilling to sample bedrock and locate pegmatites and/or related geochemical aureoles.
The Company’s strategy is to acquire a large tenement package targeting pegmatite host rock sequences across different locations to ensure there is a high probability of discovering pegmatites hosting lithium- bearing mineral spodumene.
